A CLOSE pal of Bolton Big Brother contestant Wolfy Millington has revealed he is “gutted” that she got on the show instead of him .

And he said it had been HIS dream to appear on the controversial show, now broadcast by Channel 5, since the age of 12.

Jack Taylor, aged 20, said he was shocked on Thursday night when he saw bare-footed Wolfy enter the house at the start of the new series because she had always called reality shows “braindead TV”.

Big Brother fanatic Mr Taylor, who has a tattoo of the iconic Big Brother eye logo on his hip, has known Wolfy, real name Ainsley, since they were 11 years old. Wolfy, aged 20, who now lives in Cornwall with her girlfriend of four years Michelle Singleton, was introduced to Mr Taylor as Wolfy — so called because she “loves wolves” and “wants a tattoo of a wolf”.

As teenagers the pair confided in each other about their sexualities, but Jack says that by the end of high school the once quiet girl had come out of her shell.

They both went to Bury College together to do A-levels and when she moved to Cornwall with Michelle, Mr Taylor kept in touch, seeing her when she came up to visit family and friends.

Mr Taylor, who lives in Bradford Street, The Haulgh, said: “I’m fuming really because I love Big Brother and I have been auditioning for the last few years. I wondered why she was quiet for the last couple of months.

“I last saw her at Christmas and she said she was thinking of auditioning for Big Brother, but then she said she was only joking and wanted to see my reaction.

“She said it was her dream since she was 12 but it’s not —it’s mine.”

Mr Taylor, who said he was drawn to her uniqueness, said: “We became close because we both came out to each other. She’s always wanted a tattoo of a wolf — hence the nickname. That’s what I’ve always known her as.

“We both used to hang out a lot when we were 14. She was always quiet at school because she never got on with all the chavvy girls, but when she left school she was as she is now.

“We were friends all through high school although we didn’t go to the same school.

“She went to St Monica’s. But we both went to Bury College together.”

In 2011 Mr Taylor left college and got a full-time job, while Miss Millington – who had started dating girlfriend Michelle Singleton a year earlier — moved to Cornwall when she went to university.

Mr Taylor said: “She’s been with her girlfriend Michelle for about four years now. She studied childcare and Wolfy did media.

“We still used to see each other all the half-terms and breaks she had from uni.”

Her parents, who live in Bradley Fold, declined to comment on her Big Brother appearance.

n Miss Millington is not the first Boltonian to appear on Big Brother.

Nichola Holt became an overnight celebrity when she appeared on the first series of the show in 2000. The former Canon Slade pupil was 29 when she appeared, and then lived with her parents in Turton Road, Bromley Cross.