Nadia Almada wants to get married.
Nadia Almada has opened up about her love life in a candid chat
The Portguese-born star, 47, was crowned champion of ‘Big Brother in 2004 and made history as the first-ever transgender woman to win the UK show but is keen to tie the knot, if only for "tax benefits" and a passport.
She told The Sun newspaper's Fabulous magazine: “I love men. Men are great, men usually love me most of the time. But would I get married one day? For the tax benefits, yes! And also for the British passport!”"
During her time on ‘Big Brother,’ viewers saw her survive ten weeks of cigarette rations and the explosive row dubbed “Fight Night” before winning with a record 74 per cent of the vote.
Two decades later, she now hopes the next chapter of her life will include finding a special partner.
But the former 'Ultimate Big Brother' contestant won't be looking for love by appearing on a matchmaking reality programme like ‘Love Island’ anytime soon as she described them as "so trivial".
She added: “Also, as an old romantic, I find it abhorrent how love and sex are portrayed. They have become so trivial.
“Maybe I am too old, as I’m Gen X. I was growing up in an era when everything was taboo and we couldn’t talk about it.
“I suppose my own attitude has changed compared to being a young woman. I equated sex with love, but it is not.
“Sex is great but it is not the same as true intimacy between two people. I value that so much more.”
The reality TV star was excited for 'Big Brother' to be rebooted by ITV towards the end of last year, but was hopeful that it would stay faithful to its roots rather than adhere more towards more contemporary reality shows.
She told the Daily Star newspaper: “I’m super-excited for 'Big Brother'. They will have to listen to the fans. They want the humour, the real people.
“But I think they are really trying to keep the essence of the show, the social experiment, people from all walks of life connecting.
“We need to step away from influencers and models and go back to people like me, Brian Dowling, Pete Bennett, Jade Goody – people that created the foundations for this amazing show.
“We created reality TV – the whole genre was based on that show. ‘Love Island; is very generic. I find it’s not real. There’s no soul to it. I’m sick and tired of forced love relationships.”