Rising Stars: the untold story

Things are really hotting up for housing’s five Rising Stars finalists. Throughout this week’s CIH conference in Harrogate they will strive to win the votes of delegates and IH online readers as they are put through their paces in a series of tasks.

Tim Campbell, the original winner of TV’s The Apprentice and a Rising Stars judge, fired the starting gun on the final round at the opening conference dinner on Monday night. And a very revealing moment it proved to be.

After joking that the five faced nothing compared to what Lord Sugar inflicted on him during his 12-week run to Apprentice victory, he asked each finalist to tell their fellow diners one thing that nobody knows about them. And quite revealing it was too.

Self-confessed ‘big mouth’ Suzanne found herself struggling to come up with anything people didn’t already know about her. But after a sneaky call to her partner said, ‘I’m reliably reminded that I am, by marriage, related to Seamus Heaney.’ Poetic justice if she wins, then. (Or not - see comments below…)

Caris maintained the family-theme, saying, ‘I have a young daughter who’s 18-months old. I really enjoy her making me laugh.’

Chris’s revelation was also toddler-related; but nothing to do with his own offspring. ‘At the age of three I had a, fairly un-lucrative, modelling contract with Abbey National.’ So expect some catwalk moves this week then.

We discovered Carla is the adrenaline junky of the group. ‘I love, when I can afford it, to go sky diving.’ It’s less the thrill of jumping out of the plane she craves, she said, than the 15 minutes of peaceful descent that follows.

The most scandalous revelation came from Rishi, who admitted to fiddling his expenses. His explanation? He accompanied a tenant who had never visited London before to an awards do in the capital.  ‘On the way back I asked the taxi driver to take a detour past Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament. When the expenses came through I said that the driver had got lost.’ Let’s hope his boss isn’t reading…

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