Big Brother runner-up Adam Kelly heading home

A former gang member from Dudley today told of his joy at finishing second in Big Brother – and said he was looking forward to returning home.

Just eight months ago Adam Kelly had a temporary job as a shop assistant at Toys R Us in Wolverhampton Road, Oldbury.

But now the 27-year-old, who lives in Oakham Road with his sister, Shelley and niece, Shana says he is "living a dream" despite missing out on the £50,000 prize in the Channel Five reality show.

Also in the house was Walsall model Deana Uppal, a 23-year-old former pupil at Tividale Comprehensive School pupil in Oldbury, who finished in third place following the public vote.

Adam, who has relatives in Oldbury, was beaten by his best friend in the house, Luke Anderson, 31, and admitted he never expected to reach the final two.

He was born in Burton-on-Trent but raised on the streets of Los Angeles where he became a member of the infamous LA Crips gang.

He moved to Dudley a year ago after leaving the gang behind and says he now sees the Black Country town as his home.

He said: "I can't wait to get back to my own bed and wake up when I want and smoke whenever I want.

"I'm really glad that I went on the show. I didn't know anything about it when I applied – I had just seen the end of Celebrity Big Brother and decided to fill in the form. It has been a great experience. I have been down a lot of roads in my life and things like this just don't happen to people like me. It's crazy."

The other housemates referred to Adam, Luke and Deana as "the outsiders" as they would often spend hours sitting in the outdoor smoking area.

And Adam admitted there were some people that he "really didn't like" during his 10-week stay. He added: "There were times when I would just want to go and say hello to my friends but it was difficult because there were other people that I didn't even want to associate with.

"There was some disgusting behaviour in there and some of the things that people said about each other was terrible."