Regina Bird

Regina "Reggie" Bird (now Reggie Sorensen[1]) is a contestant and winner of Big Brother 2003 Australia.[2] Small in stature with an unusual nasal intonation, she earned public admiration with her down-to-earth charm, strong work ethic, and naivety. Reggie was widely tipped to win Big Brother from early in the series and won with 72% of the final vote, the biggest margin in a Big Brother Finale to date. She is the first female winner of the Australian series. "Go Reggie" bumper stickers were a big hit in Tasmania.

The Fish & Chip Shop in Cambridge which Bird used to own.

Biography

Before Big Brother, Reggie and her husband Adrian managed a fish and chip shop in Cambridge, Tasmania.[3] Their marriage ended shortly after the season finale.

After her win, Reggie signed up with manager Harry M. Miller and filmed a pilot for a TV show which never made it to air.[4] Later she appeared as a contestant on 2005 Nine Network celebrity skating competition series Skating on Thin Ice. From December 2004 to May 2005 she worked for airline Virgin Blue (now named Virgin Australia) as a flight attendant – her "dream job" – although she resigned claiming she had been bullied by her colleagues. In 2005, Bird lost $40,000 to a conman.[5]

She spent some time residing in Sydney and later Melbourne. She now lives in Queensland. She gave birth to her first child, a daughter – Mia Regina Sorensen – with her second husband, Dale Sorensen.[6][7] In 2008 she underwent emergency surgery arising from an ectopic pregnancy and was also declared legally blind after having been diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition.[8]

Reggie was included in Hobart newspaper The Mercury's list of "Tassie's Top 200" movers and shakers in 2007.[9]

She was interviewed by 60 Minutes in July 2009, during which she discussed her ongoing degenerative eye condition and her second child due in August 2009.[10]

Reggie was involved in the week 12 task on season 9 of Big Brother Australia in 2012, entering the house to try to get the current housemates at the time to fail their weekly task, which was to ignore everyone who entered the house that wasn’t a housemate.

References
  1. Richards, Blair (17 December 2009). "Reggie's bionic eye hope". The Mercury. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  2. Minchin, Liz (22 July 2003). "Reggie wins Big Brother prize". The Age. with Australian Associated Press. Archived from the original on 15 May 2006. Retrieved 23 April 2006.
  3. "It's our ticket out of here". Herald Sun. 27 July 2003.
  4. "TV pilot for our Reggie". The Mercury. 26 November 2003.
  5. "Life goes on out of the goldfish bowl". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 May 2006. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012.
  6. "Big Brother star Reggie: 'My miracle baby'". Woman's Day. 23 April 2007. Archived from the original on 1 May 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2007.
  7. "Pregnant pause for Reggie". The Mercury. 20 December 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2007.
  8. Smith, Linda (26 December 2008). "Oh, Brother! Reggie's Back". The Mercury. Archived from the original on 11 May 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  9. "Tassie's A list". The Mercury. 19 January 2007. Archived from the original on 1 July 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
  10. Usher, Michael (3 July 2009). "Reggie's Biggest Battle". 60 Minutes. Archived from the original on 8 July 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
Preceded by
Peter Corbett		 Big Brother Australia winner
Series 3 (2003)		 Succeeded by
Trevor Butler
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