Big Brother favourites Samanda: where are they now?

Big Brother returns to our TV screens tonight for its 20th series after a five-year absence. It remains to seen whether the latest incarnation - hosted by Will Best and Keele University graduate AJ Odudu - will herald a return to the days when the housemates became household names.

But back in 2007, the nation was captivated by North Staffordshire-born twins Samantha and Amanda Marchant in the eighth series. StokeOnTrentLive approached the twins for comment this week but they declined to speak to us for this feature. So we're taking a look back at their time in the Big Brother house and what they went on to do in the years since.

The blonde twosome - who became known as Samanda thanks to their uncanny ability to finish each others sentences - grew up in Knutton and attended Wolstanton High School and Newcastle College. They both signed up to study for a social work degree at Manchester Metropolitan University, which is where Amanda persuaded her sister to audition for Big Brother.

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The twins, who turned 19 during the show, were hugely popular - both with their own on-screen housemates and the outside world - and reached the final without ever receiving a nomination, eventually coming second to Brian Belo. And that was just the start of their adventures.

The offers came flooding in and they wrote a fashion column, modelled for Knickerbox, released a workout DVD and a couple of singles - including a cover of Aqua's hit Barbie Girl, which reached number 26 - and created their own fragrance called, appropriately, Samanda. They were even asked to model in Naomi Campbell’s charity fashion show, Fashion For Relief, and, because they shared an agent with the American socialite, socialised with none other than Paris Hilton.

But they also used their position for good, raising thousands of pounds for the Teenage Cancer Trust, launching a specialist stop smoking campaign led by NHS North Staffordshire and backing a personal safety campaign by the Lucie Blackman Trust, to name just a few. They also supported the humble Staffordshire oatcake with a social media post on Oatcake Day in 2010 - and turned down £250,000 to pose for a lads’ mag.

In an interview with The Sentinel in 2011, the twins talked about their experiences in the house and what had happened to them since. By then they were both living in London and working for fashion brand Angeleye – Sam in marketing, Amanda as a merchandiser.

Amanda, who was then 23, told The Sentinel: "In a way I’m glad that we entered the house as naive as we were. It did us a favour.

“People who go on the show knowing what is going to come after never seem to do that well. Whereas with us, because we weren’t expecting what happened when it did, everything was a bonus.

"We were just so grateful and we had such a fun time. “I think we stayed quite grounded through the whole process although I look back and think we didn’t have the first idea.“

In the same interview, Sam, the older by five minutes, added: "We weren’t prepared for the impact of the house on our lives after we left the show. Obviously being in Stoke, we didn’t have the first idea of having an agent, for example.

"We thought the show might be a nice way to meet people and have fun but really we didn’t have the first clue. At the time we were really bubbly young naive girls and people still think that’s our character now.

"That’s who we were then but of course we’ve matured. Every time we meet someone new, they tell us that we’re different to how they expected.

“I think it’s good to change people’s opinions but I understand that there’s a perception of us. That’s why people who come out of reality TV sometimes struggle to get jobs because there’s an image of them that just sticks.

"I don’t think we have any regrets but the one thing we do sometimes look back on and think about is the fact we wished we had more control after we left the programme."

After a brief period under the intense spotlight of celebrity, the sisters settled into normal life, becoming mums and continuing their interest in fashion. According to publicly available information on professional networking site LinkedIn, Amanda completed a diploma in buying and merchandising from the Fashion Retail Academy and works for ASOS, while Samantha was previously reported to be a senior sales manager at a creative fashion agency.