Aisleyne: Surviving Guns, Gangs and Glamour
Publisher: Mainstream
Published: May 7 2009
Place of publication: Edinburgh
Number of pages: 224
ISBN-13: 9781845964368
Genres: Memoir
First sentence: I had to protect my dad.
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 happy, 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 drug-fuelled suicide attempt, and it ended when she saw her mum start a strict new life as a devout Jehovah’s Witness.


Aisleyne’s journey to adulthood has been a struggle to make good. Hospitalised after an extreme bullying incident at school, she then 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 precious 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.

After fighting to bring her broken family back together, she threw herself into a new career as a promotions girl and glamour model. Slowly making a name for herself, her big break came when she was selected to compete on Big Brother in 2006 and 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, counting Amy Winehouse and Mike Tyson among her close friends. This is her remarkable story.