I was a Tottenham star and rejected move to Championship club to get £300,000 on Big Brother

Football's ties with reality TV has grown recently but one ex-player became the first to cross the divide in 2017.

More recently, players from the lower league have put their football careers on hold for a shot at finding romance in the Love Island Villa.

But one former Premier League midfielder was a trailblazer when it came to opting for the riches of reality TV over the beautiful game.

Jamie O’Hara was offered a short-term contract with then-Championship Burton Albion in 2017 and after impressing during a trial under then boss Nigel Clough, the ex-Tottenham star turned down an offer, in place of a stint on Celebrity Big Brother.

O’ Hara and Clough were recently reunited on talkSPORT for the first time since 2017 and both recalled the events leading to the former midfielder’s snub.

“He said he was happy and he wanted to get back playing and I thought if we offer him a few hundred quid a week then Big Brother happened,” Clough recalled.

But O’Hara chimed in with his version of events and took the opportunity to offer a heartfelt apology to the former Nottingham Forest and Liverpool star.

“Oh Nige I’m sorry mate,” said O’Hara. “I went up there [Burton] and Nige was brilliant with me to be fair because I hadn’t been playing. I was out and I was a little bit worried about my fitness.

“He asked me to come up there and I trained really well for a few days. He was like ‘look, I really want you, I need a midfielder’ but I’d already signed a contract to go in Big Brother!

“I said to my agent ‘Nigel wants me to sign a contract. How much are they offering?’ He said, ‘a couple of grand a week’.

“It was £300,000 to go on Big Brother. I said sorry Nige, I’m off. I do apologise though Nige, I do regret that one."

O’ Hara was then asked how