I'm a Celebrity reality TV star Reggie Sorensen ‘scammed out of $40,000’ after her second Big Brother win

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I’m A Celebrity star Reggie Sorensen has told her campmates about how she was scammed out of tens of thousands of dollars by a scammer who was pretending to be a TV producer shortly after she won Big Brother for the second time.

During a one-on-one chat with Bachelor star Matty Johnson while they are both in the jungle for the reality show, Sorensen became emotional as she shared the story about how she was fooled into making a fake TV pilot.

The 50-year-old mum-of-two, originally from Queensland, is known for winning Big Brother twice. She explained how when she won the social experiment reality show for second time in 2022 she won $250,000 and decided to relocate to Sydney in a bid to further her career.

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She told how she spent her winnings faster than she thought - and was then scammed out of $40,000 (around £32,000) by a person she believed was a TV producer who could help get her more work.

“I went to Sydney, I thought I’ll be close to management to get more work. But they did nothing. Then I had to pay a lawyer to get out of the contract,” she said. It was then that she met a man who claimed to be a producer and offered her the chance to be the star of her own travel series.

Thinking this was the change in luck she needed, she accepted the offer. “I had this guy he made out he was a TV producer. We shot a TV pilot and I thought it was going to be this travel show thing. But it was all bull****,” she said as she broke down in tears.

I'm a Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here! Australia star Reggie Sorensen has opened up about being scammed out of $40,000 after her second Big Brother win. Photo by I'm a Celebrity Australia.I'm a Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here! Australia star Reggie Sorensen has opened up about being scammed out of $40,000 after her second Big Brother win. Photo by I'm a Celebrity Australia.
I'm a Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here! Australia star Reggie Sorensen has opened up about being scammed out of $40,000 after her second Big Brother win. Photo by I'm a Celebrity Australia. | I'm a Celebrity Australia

She went on to explain how she realised she’d been scammed when nothing became of the alleged pilot episode of the fake show. “He ripped me off $40,000. I find it hard to trust people now,” continued the reality star. “People take advantage of you. I’m a very trusting person.”

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Johnson later spoke in the jungle confessional to express his feelings of sadness of Sorensen. “I think the biggest shame is someone who’s as nice and genuine as Reggie is someone who’s been taken advantage of,” he said.

The story Sorenson ha shared in the I’m a Celeb jungle came a month after she spoke to news.com.au and said although the prize pot she received from Big Brother was a quarter million it only helped to keep her head above water. “I feel like I’m a mouse in one of those spinning wheels . . . I just can’t get off this vicious circle,” she told the publication.

The TV star, who has lived with a worsening degenerative eye condition for many years, said after she first won the money she hoped she coud use it to buy a home - but she soon realised that was unrealistic.

“I went to the bank to get a loan and couldn’t, because you need to borrow well over half a million dollars to buy a house on the Gold Coast, and I don’t have a job. No one wants to employ me because of my vision. I’ve been trying to get a job, but I just can’t get any work, so I can’t get a loan,” she said.

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“I’ve been living off the winnings, paying the rent to keep a roof over our heads. That’s where the money’s been going – on rent. It’s been poo to be honest. I’m not whingeing, but that’s been the reality of it. So it’s been hard.”

  • The Australian version of I’m a Celeb is airing now on Channel 10 and 10 Play! New episodes are broadcast at 7.30pm (Aus time) nightly. While the UK version of the show is filmed in Australia, the Aussie version is set in Kruger National Park, South Africa, which has a similar time difference to the UK.

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