Pete Wins Big Brother 2006

Pete Bennett has triumphed as the winner of Big Brother, taking home a prize of £100,000.

The 24-year-old Londoner, who has Tourette Syndrome, jumped around the Big Brother house screaming when he learnt the result of the public vote.

He beat Welsh lifeguard Glyn Wise into second place. Model Aisleyne Horgan Wallace, 27, came third.

Pete had been favourite to win for the entire duration of the reality programme's seventh series.

Earlier in the evening, Canadian waiter Richard Newman, 33, was evicted into fourth place.

Pete's love interest from the Big Brother house, 24-year-old Nikki Grahame, came fifth, and sales adviser Jennie Corner, 18, was sixth.

Channel 4 will be hoping to beat the figure of 7.8 million viewers who tuned in to see last year's final, in which 1970s dancer Anthony Hutton claimed victory.

This current series of Big Brother has been the longest so far.

It got off to a shaky start when three contestants walked out in the first fortnight of the show.

Two of them, Shahbaz Chaudhury and George Askew, left the house of their own accord.

Dawn Blake, an "exercise scientist" from Birmingham, was thrown out by the show's producers after they claimed she broke the rules on making contact with the outside world.

A series of twists and turns has kept viewers watching over the summer, with viewing figures regularly topping four million.

One member of the public, Susie Verrico, gained entry to the house after obtaining a golden ticket from a bar of chocolate.

And four contestants were introduced to the Big Brother house in the seventh week of the series, after spending time in a "secret" house next door.

The final twist came in the penultimate week, when 24-year-old evictee Nikki returned to the house and became eligible for the show's prize fund.

This sparked complaints from viewers who were unhappy at being asked to vote again for contestants they thought had left for good.

Premium rate phone watchdog Icstis has launched an investigation into the situation, and could decide to fine Big Brother's premium rate service providers up to £250,000.