Sunday, 3 June 2007

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Chanelle's mum was murdered

Adopted Big Brother contestant lost her mother when she was four

Raised by adoptive parents, Chanelle Hayes didn't know until she was 14 that her real mum was a prostitute and that she'd been killed by a client.

'I don't think Chanelle ever came to terms with what happened to her mum and I don't think she ever will,' says her dad Harry, 55.

'She put her mother on a pedestal and worshipped her. She saw her as a beautiful princess — like someone in story book.'

Big Brother contestant Chanelle was horrified when she found out the truth - her mum was murdered in Manchester in 1988.

The 19-year-old has been fragile since the revelation and, Harry and wife Christine, from Middlestown, West Yorks, don't want to see their little girl go through any more pain.

'It's difficult watching her on Big Brother,' her dad tells The News of the World.

'Adopting her was the best thing we ever did. I'm as proud today as the first day I held her in my arms.'