Big Brother star ordained as a deacon after turning to the church – 20 years on from finishing runner-up on reality show

The Sun

29-06-2025

A BIG Brother legend has finally been ordained as a deacon after swapping fame for the church.
Series seven runner-up Glyn Wise, 37, has been working towards this moment for five years after time spent in China made him reconsider his life.
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Last month he graduated from Bible College where he spent three years studying for a theology degree. Five weeks later, he is officially a vicar.
Today, he confirmed the news, writing on Instagram: "This is Rev Glyn - I'm coming to get you!
"Day 1 as an official Rev! Hard work, praying & studying has paid off - 'With God all things are possible' Math 19: 26.
"Looking forward to follow in the footsteps of the disciples in the book of Acts, spreading the good word across the nations!"
Glyn shared a video from his ordination ceremony inside St Asaph Cathedral, North Wales, as he was made a member of the clergy.
The work of a deacon focuses on spreading and serving the Church in poor and marginalised communities.
Glyn's next stage of training to become a priest will see him based in the Aled Mission Area around Old Colwyn and Betws yn Rhos, according to the diocese of St Asaph.
He has already completed a 770km pilgrimage to the iconic Santiago de Compostela in Spain, believed to be the burial site of the apostle St James, as part of his faith journey.
DIVINE INTERVENTION
Religion has always played a big part in Glyn 's life and previously told how he "prayed my way onto Big Brother".
Speaking on This Morning in 2022, he said: 'I grew up in a religious family and I prayed my way onto Big Brother.
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"I was asking God can you please just get me into Big Brother.
'I was 16 thinking there must be so much more to life, life is so predestined, school then university and I wanted something so different for me.
'Big Brother was what I wanted and it changed everything.'
Previously, he told how he counts Hollywood actor and Wrexham AFC co-owner Ryan Reynolds as one of the congregation at his local church in North Wales.
After dropping out of the limelight, Glyn went on to have a normal life, heading to university two years and becoming a teacher.
He then decided to go travelling and ended up working in Shanghai, China, where he 'got rid of the Glyn from Big Brother tag'.
With Christianity growing at a massive scale across Asia, Glyn embraced his faith and decided to train as a vicar once he got home in 2020.
He previously opened up on what his course entailed and said: 'I'm learning theology, going into depth about the Bible and learning how to cope with people, because you're not only the vicar, you're someone to listen, you're a psychiatrist, you have to help sort people's lives out and spread the good word.
'So there's a concoction of stuff that you need to learn before you become a vicar.'
Despite sporting a very different look now, Glyn says he still gets Big Brother fans coming up to him in church — and he will often weave his past into his sermons.
He said: 'I've got a beard now, I've shaved my head, I'm a man not a boy, but yeah, there's conversations about Big Brother that still come up. People come to church and are like, 'I really loved you when you cooked that egg'.
'And I'm like, 'Can we talk about Jesus Christ now, the Saviour?'.
'But I feel like when you've lived a good life, you've got a lot to talk about when you're up in the pulpit doing a sermon.'