Nadia Almada on 20 years since Big Brother win: ‘We have not moved forward as quickly as I hoped’
"There is a small minority who say these vile things"
Nadia Almada has looked back on two decades since her culture-shaping Big Brother win, saying she felt “invincible” at the time.
The 47-year-old appeared on the fifth series back in 2004, and went on to become the first publicly trans person to win.
One of the show’s most popular contestants ever, the Portugese-born hairstylist went on to release the single ‘A Little Bit of Action’, which reached number 27 in the charts.
“The community itself is more visible” – Nadia Almada
Speaking of her 27-year-old self, Nadia told The Guardian this week: “I wish I still had that Nadia in my life. I felt invincible. … It’s just that invincibility, that confidence that you have in your 20s is difficult to locate later on.”
Asked about the politicisation of trans identities, or ‘culture wars‘, Nadia replied: “It’s complicated. Twenty years on we’re still debating the existence of trans women, and that means that we have not moved forward as quickly as I would have hoped back then.
“Although the community is more visible, more united and there’s a lot to be proud of, if the question itself still exists …”
The star furthermore added: “I need to make clear that even though there is that toxic discourse in politics, I don’t believe it reflects the whole of this country. But there is a small minority who say these vile things – I don’t even know if they believe them, but they do so for political advantage and the consequence is to dehumanise.”
Nadia, who now lives in Surrey outside of London, went on to appear on Ultimate Big Brother in the year 2010.