'Big Brother's Ryan Ruckledge is prepared to do "anything" to become a household name.
Ryan Ruckledge / Credit: Channel 5
The former 'X Factor' reject - who is currently competing on the reality TV show as one of The Others stashed in the second secret house of the same grounds - is keen to emulate Josie Cunningham's rise to fame, which saw her dubbed Britain's most hated woman, from 2009.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "He is desperate to become the male Josie Cunningham. He's really jealous of her fame and will do anything to become a household name, he won't care if it's through being hated."
However, it seems Ryan - who was booted off the singing show in 2013 when he rocked up to his audition drunk - has dramatically changed his tune as he used to "hate" Josie, who shot into the limelight when she got a boob job on the NHS seven years ago, and shamed her on social media.
The insider added: "He used to s**g Josie off all the time on social media, but quickly realised it could go against him."
And the 26-year-old hunk is reportedly so desperate to get in Josie's good books that he's been bombarding her management with phone calls, begging them to take him on.
Her agent confirmed but refused to shed light on their chat: "I have spoken to Ryan regularly over the past year, but it wouldn't be fair to disclose the conversations we've had."