Zero to Hero – and back again?

After winning Celebrity Big Brother and getting back with Katie Price, Alex Reid seemed to have won over the public’s affection. But will it all turn sour again?

It’s one of the most amazing tabloid turnarounds ever. In the run up to Christmas Alex Reid was widely regarded as the biggest plonker in Britain. But having emerged from the Celebrity Big Brother house as this year's unlikely winner, the cross-dressing cage fighter has somehow managed to win back the public.

Back in summer this didn’t seem possible. Alex was very much the “other man” and when he and Katie Price visited Marbella twice last summer and while they were photographed getting personal in the pool, Peter Andre stayed in the UK with the kids. The “Team Pete” crowd grew louder and louder in their condemnation of Alex and when it was revealed that Alex was a professional cage fighter who had also appeared a porn film called “Killer Bitch, the public zeroed in on him and Katie as the most hated couple in Britain. To rub salt into the wounds, Peter turned up in Marbella a few weeks later with the kids and was the perfect father in front of an adoring paparazzi.

Back in the UK Alex was the subject of further humiliation when he turned up to Katie’s Halloween party in a transvestite outfit complete with lipstick and stockings, and when she dumped him live on air after leaving the “I'm A Celebrity” jungle in December, his days in the limelight looked over
So it wasn’t entirely surprising that when Alex entered the Big Brother house in January, the crowd booed him. "This is why I'm here," he told Davina. "To change these boos to hopefully cheers."

His first test was coming face-to-face with Katie's ex Dane Bowers, who to Alex's surprise was about to be his roommate for the next three weeks. Dane had a black eye after a fight at New Year's Eve party at Katie's house, which both men had attended. Initial reports suggested that Alex was behind the attack, but he and Dane denied the claim in a joint statement. Nonetheless, discovering the ex-boyband star in the Big Brother house must have been a shock for 'The Reidernater'. But rather than arguing with Dane - which Channel 4 producers must have hoped for - Alex gave him a big hug and the pair immediately started cracking jokes.

And rather than being the first voted out of the house, Alex was soon being offered advice and home truths from Vinnie Jones, Stephanie Beacham and Stephen Baldwin which he seemed to be taking on board. Vinnie even criticised his bid for movie stardom. "No one would want to be in a movie with you at the moment - no one would want to be associated with you," Vinnie said. "If you offered me five million dollars to be in a movie with you, I wouldn't take it."

Alex also showed a willingness to make fun of himself (the all over fake body tan springs to mind),surprisingly went on to win Celebrity Big Brother with a whopping 60% of the final vote, which apparently had Vinnie “gutted’.

There's little doubt Alex's time on the Channel 4 show mellowed him. During one of his last meals in the house, Alex described the experience as an "emotional rollercoaster". "I can act like a plonker sometimes," he told housemates. "But maybe I have grown up."

Maybe he has, but within a week of emerging from the BB House, Alex was back with Katie and they were both telling OK magazine of their wedding plans I wish I’d met Alex six years ago. He’s perfect in every way. He’s a proper gentleman” she gushed while Alex said “I need Katie. I don’t need her for fame but I need her. It has been a fantastic start to the New Year and it’s going to be even more fantastic now this is happening”

The couple then headed out to Las Vegas, world capital of the quickie wedding, and were married within hours of arriving in a private ceremony at the luxurious Wynn Hotel, and a multi million pound deal for photos of their wedding was rumoured to be in discussion. And just to add more drama the couple’s trip reportedly enraged Peter, who thought that Katie would be looking after the kids this week. 'It's absolutely outrageous the way she behaves with the kids sometimes,' a source told The Sun. 'They are an afterthought. Kate was meant to pick them up after school yesterday but word filtered back that she was on her way to Heathrow for a flight and the nannies would be looking after the kids all week. Pete hit the roof.” Later though, he had calmed down and told Radio One “I’ve thought about this, all of this morning, and I thought as long as they’re a positive influence on my kids that’s all I care about. If they’re happy great, it’s none of my business.”

Alex may have gone from zero to hero, but watch this space. He could be back to zero by the end of the month!