The 23-year-old from Ireland beat blonde hairdresser Helen Adams in a live final on Friday night and emerged from the house in tears.
"I never expected to get this far," he said. "I'm still coming to terms with winning and it's such a shock."
He said he would spend his prize on taking friends on holiday but was still planning to return to his job at Ryanair next month.
 Hundreds of fans
cheered the contestants in Bow, east
London |
"I am Irish, Catholic, gay and I am chuffed that people in Ireland have backed me."
Dressed in a white shirt and jeans, he strolled calmly and slowly out of the house as fireworks erupted in the sky.
Brian's family travelled from their home in Rathangan, Co Kildare, to greet him - a major achievement for his mother Rosie as she was terrified of flying and had never been in a plane before.
He said his lowest points were missing his sister and his mum and dad but he said he was "chuffed" that they were all supporting him.
Clear winner
He polled 4,231,660 votes (58%) out of a total 7,255,094, while 2,680,463 viewers (37%) voted for Helen.
Dean O'Loughlin, from Birmingham, was evicted earlier in the night after receiving 269,489 (4%) of the votes cast.
when host Davina McCall announced Brian had won he jumped in the air shouting: "Oh my God, I'm going home, I'm going home."
Brian then hugged and kissed runner-up
Helen before she left the Big Brother house barefoot, wearing a sparkling light
blue off-the-shoulder dress and carrying her shoes in her hands.
On leaving the house, the 23-year-old hairdresser and
dance teacher from Cwmbran in Wales was greeted by fellow housemate Paul Clarke
and told him: "You look so different."
When she was told that boyfriend Big G had dumped
her, she said: "That's cool by me. I feel fine - whatever mate. It don't bother
me."
She said she had feared a possible showdown between
Big G and Paul, saying: "I was worried that Paul would have two black eyes."
Paul presented her with a pair of Gucci shoes and a
handbag, to which she yelled: "Oh my God - Paul Clarke, I can't believe it!"
Helen said of their relationship: "I am very fond of
him but Big Brother will get back to you on that one.
"Paul Clarke is a really nice guy - probably the most
genuine, honest guy I've met."
Sparkly stuff
Talking about her future plans she said: "I cannot
tell at the moment as I've just stepped out but it's made me realise how much I
miss hairdressing and teaching dance."
She said she was looking forward to a cup of tea, a
chat with her mum and just getting back to Wales.
Asked why she was so popular, Helen replied: "Is it
because I wear sparkly stuff?"
She insisted that she didn't mind losing out to
Brian: "I didn't think I was going to get on there and I am not disappointed.
It's just like a dancing competition."
The total number of votes cast in the final week of
the second series of Big Brother was less than last year's record breaking
figure of 7.4 million.
Five pence from each vote cast throughout the series
goes to charity - Shelter, Kids Company and Community Self-Build will share
£803,980.
In BBC News Online's own poll, Helen received
43.59% of the votes cast and Brian received 43.24%.
Before the start of the series, Irish cabin crew supervisor Brian, 23, described himself as "bubbly, intelligent, bold and honest".
Channel 4 said he was "the
contestant most likely to cheer up the rest of the household during bad
moments".
Both assessments proved
correct. Brian's combination of good humour and openness made him a favourite
with his housemates, the media and the bookies.
Brian, the eldest of seven
children - all the rest are girls - comes from Rathangan in Co Kildare. His
mother is Rosie and his father Geard.
He moved to London a few
years ago and landed the job with Ryanair not long afterwards.
Working the route between
Stansted and Londonderry, the outgoing Brian is reportedly a favourite among
colleagues and regular passengers.
From day one in the house,
Brian's experience of making people feel relaxed was evident in his ability as
an entertainer.
Never short of a sharp
one-liner, he consistently had his housemates in stitches.
 Bubble: Upstaged
by Brian |
He competed for laughs with Bubble, memorably upstaging him when the two engaged in comedy ballroom dancing.
In the end, Bubble had to concede defeat, declaring: "You are the funniest man I have ever met."
Brian's friends and teachers from school in Rathangan confirmed that Brian was always the showman as a boy.
If there was a part to be taken in a play, he was there - and the more comic the role the better.
Although describing himself as "tidy", Brian rarely lifted a finger to help with cooking or household chores.
But it did not seem to matter to his fellow housemates, who never nominated him in enough numbers to put him up for eviction. Brian kept them amused.
Serious "father" of the house Dean complained about having to talk about pop music but Brian made him do it anyway - and got him to laugh about it too.
When Narinder asked him which celebrity would most fancy her, he shot back: "Stevie Wonder."
Affectionate
Brian also showed a sensitive side.
The only person in the house he
did not gel with was Josh. As the other gay man in the house, Josh seemed to
want to annoy Brian.
After being openly
antagonistic towards Brian for most of the time, Josh flirted with him, tried to
get him drunk and then propositioned him - but to no avail.
Brian took it all in his
stride but broke down when the two had a blazing row on his 23rd birthday.
He sneaked off to the Diary
Room where he broke down and cried in front of millions of viewers and declared:
"I'm just a selfish bastard."
His mother told The Mirror:
"Brian loves people and he loves attention."
His father added: "What you
see on the TV is Brian, that is his personality."
And despite often making
jokes at the expense of the other housemates, Brian was always ready to laugh at
himself.
He shaved his head, after
promising to do so if he was not nominated for eviction.
And though knowingly
vocally challenged, he was always up for singing - especially Destiny's
Child.
http://www.unofficialbigbrother.co.uk/brian.html