Product Description

Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace is the ultimate Big Brother survivor, and in "Aisleyne: Surviving Guns, Gangs and Glamour", she reveals a shocking life story that surpasses any reality-show plotline. Her childhood journey began in a crazy punk household, where Siouxsie Sioux and Boy George were regular visitors. It shattered for the first time with the nightmare of seeing her half-naked dad dragged bleeding from the bathroom by police after a suicide attempt, and it ended when she saw her mum start a strict new life as a devout Jehovah's Witness. Hospitalised after an extreme bullying incident at school, Aisleyne left home at 16, having been cut off by her mother and let down by her father. Alone in London, Aisleyne's lifeline was a place in a hostel, where she shared the roof over her head with the frightened women and predatory men of the city's gang culture. While some of her friends were lost to drugs, knives and gun crime, Aisleyne vowed to pick herself up and get out of there. Aisleyne threw herself into a new career as a promotions girl and glamour model. Slowly making a name for herself, Aisleyne's big break came when she was selected to compete on Big Brother in 2006, and she was voted the most popular female housemate that year. Three years on, Aisleyne is living proof that it is possible to escape the streets and make good. She's become a successful businesswoman, fashion designer and established media celebrity. This is her remarkable story.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #164823 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

About the Author
Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace was a contestant on Big Brother in 2006, and has since written for More and Reveal magazines.

Customer Reviews

a must read!
anyone reading this who has never liked aisleyne will most definitely change their opinion after reading this book, this girl has been through a lot and has come out the other side, anyone thinking of buying this should most definitely do it now, its a very good read, better than expected this girl has not been given enough credit!

At times a difficult read - but well worth persevering
A difficult read at times, but highly impressive. I'm not sure what the mix between Aisleyne and her editor was, but it's a well-constructed (more thought-provoking than page-turner) book with a serious and authentic tone - pleasantly surprised at that.

I'd have bet money that the book would start with the emotion of Aisleyne leaving the house on finals night - instead the show gets a fairly disinterested chapter. Ash did it, made some good friends, is cool with the rest - and that's about it. Big Brother is a strange pressured situation, people say and do things they wouldn't on the outside, so just enjoy it, then leave and get on with your life and any opportunities your 15 minutes presents - is Aisleyne's no-nonsense take on the BB experience.

Instead the book starts with a domestic involving the infant Aisleyne, her parents and their mutually destructive relationship. That sets a mark for this life story - incidents mundane, horrible and often extremely violent, hours in the cop shop, which then blow over with just the legacy of damage to an insecure and bewildered young girl.

The gangs and Aisleyne's decade or so in the hostels and seedy nightlife of North London form the most impressive part of the book, and it is grim. How she copes with the violent, thieving, druggy awfulness of this scary world, is I suppose admirable and pragmatic, but her own professed liking (the bling, designer fashions, fast cars and easy money) for the trappings of an amoral, violent culture fed by the drug economy, suggests she hasn't escaped her past. Added to this is her touching but unrealistic view of her parents' relationship before their break up - and her longing throughout the book for reversing her long estrangement from her mother.

Aisleyne clearly likes the doors that Big Brother has opened to a brighter world, Kanye, Amy, Charlie Brooker et al - and it struck me that these people actually wanted to meet her either through watching Big Brother 7 themselves or interest in the BB phenomenon worldwide. Annoying and brash as Aisleyne can be, she's a decent ambassador for the good and bad in the programme, even if the book itself is not for the addicts of the programme or those looking for kiss and tell - there isn't any.

A Thriller
This book is a real thriller, Aisleyne come through stuff some just wouldn't survive. Most of the book but a few chapters talks about her experiences before her time in Big Brother. Rather interesting and griping to say the least. It kind of helps you to understand where she's coming from. She's a lost girl looking for her salvation, I'd say she's still very much on her journey. It's easy to look at someone and judge, but we do things and act a certain way for a reason. I just hope that she eventually lands on her feet.