star has revealed the rule housemates should follow in order to make money when they leave.
The television personality, 40, was on the 2006 season of the show, which was won by Pete Bennett and saw the likes of and .
At the time, she was a 23-year-old waitress, but was inundated with opportunities and photoshoots when she was evicted.
Ahead of the reboot of the iconic series on ITV, Imogen spoke about how she used her popularity and created a property empire now worth £10million.
And in an exclusive interview with Metro.co.uk she’s shared the secret to her fortune.
The mum-of-two, who said she had ‘the best time of my life’ on Big Brother 7 and would , told us: ‘What you get offered take because beggars can’t be choosers at the end of the day.
‘When I was on the show, there were so many magazines that I could be modelling for and I was for like 10 years straight. I had so many contracts with them.
‘You don’t have that anymore, you just don’t have it, so that’s where the main money was.
‘Yes, you’ve got social media and I work on that now and I’m making thousands a post but brands are a little bit more cautious now and they don’t want to be paying the money anymore.
‘So for me, I would just say take whatever you can get and make good of the situation because it does dry out.’
Imogen, when asked about what she would tell her then-23-year-old self coming out of the house, echoed her comments, adding: ‘Take up every opportunity. I mean any job that comes your way I wouldn’t be snubbing your nose up at it.
‘I would pick up all of the jobs that were there and really make good use of a situation because it doesn’t last forever, trust me.’
She went on to say that at the time, Imogen rejected one Sunday newspaper, which she now regrets.
‘I just wasn’t in the mood,’ she admitted. ‘And now I just think, “why did I say no to that?” That’s a lot of money.
‘I had lots of other opportunities along the way but that would be one regret of mine.’
Amongst all the interview opportunities, Imogen was also offered .
‘It was a surprise that they wanted me to do it and it was quite a surreal moment,’ she added.
Elsewhere, talking about the new revival, Imogen praised how ‘refreshing’ the diverse cast was.
‘I’m really enjoying it, I love the mix of people,’ she said.
‘It’s so nice to see normal people and it’s quite refreshing because we’re so used to watching Love Island where people go in looking great,’ Imogen went on.
‘It’s so nice to see and really brought it back.’
She added that the new series makes it feel ‘the same’.
‘I feel like Big Brother is a bit chattier and funnier, but otherwise it’s completely the same.
‘The compared to ours – it was tiny. It looked big on the telly but it was tiny!’
Imogen Thomas was speaking to Metro.co.uk on behalf of
Big Brother continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2.
