“I’m almost crying just thinking about that moment.”

When single mum of three Coco Beeby headed into the Big Brother Australia house, she was terrified that Australia would turn on her for leaving her kids to give the once-in-a-lifetime experience a go. As she stood on that stage as the winner of Big Brother Australia 2026, she was overcome with emotion knowing that she’d been accepted wholeheartedly by the entire country. But then, the emotion hit her tenfold when she was reunited with her kids, who were crying tears of joy to be reunited with their mum.

“I’m almost crying just thinking about that moment,” Coco tells TV WEEK.

“To be honest, the kids were crying their eyes out and the feeling of them squeezing me so tight, they just did not want to let me go. I can only imagine what their little brains were thinking in that moment. People screaming, they’re on stage. I’m so proud of how they handled it.”

Along with the bragging rights of winning Big Brother Australia, the 31-year-old is walking away with $135,000. It’s an amount that she says is going to change her family’s life.

“I’ve moved in with my mum and the house isn’t set up for us. So my first thing I’ll do with the money is to look for a little place for me and the kids. Just to have a home. But also, it’s going to be a very different Christmas this year,” Coco explains.

“The kids have already been screaming at me asking for presents and I’ve been like hold on a second, give me a minute,” she laughs.
Coco was worried Australia would judge her. (Image: 10)
During her time in the house, Coco formed a relationship with her fellow housemate Bruce. At first, she was a little bit reluctant to get involved with anything romantic but eventually, their feelings won out.

“You literally forget the cameras are there,” she explains. “We spoke for so long about not kissing on camera because of everything that went on with Holly and Colin. We didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes. So when we did actually end up kissing, we just couldn’t hold back anymore. We just really wanted to do that. We did hide it from everyone for a long as we could.”

According to Coco, their romance — which for viewers of the livestream felt like the world’s longest rom-com — happened “organically”.

“We were not prepared at all,” she says. “We both came into the show telling our parents that we’re going in and it didn’t matter how good looking the person was. We’re not doing it. It’s a no-go zone. And we just couldn’t help it.”

Now, she is excited to finally get to know Bruce properly — without the cameras.

“I’m just looking forward to catching up, having a coffee, having a surf and seeing what happens.”

Although she went against her word, Coco has absolutely no regrets about her time in the house. In fact, she’s proud of the way she carried herself and handled confrontation with the other housemates. But she says it wasn’t without help from her bestie, Allana.

“I’m just a straight up and down kind of person. It’s a better way to be. I haven’t always been this way though,” Coco admits.

“When I first got in the house, at times Allana could see me fully disassociate and go into a little world at times when there was confrontation. She was like, ‘come back, you can do this’. So I had a her cheering me on when I really needed it.”
Congratulations coco!!!! (Image: 10) (Credit: Instagram/bigbrotherau)
Now that she’s back in the real world, Coco is excited to spend time with her. However, if another reality show pops up, she’s not against it.

“Never say never,” she admits.

“I’m always up for anything. Well, I mean, if it’s Love Island or something like that then no thanks. But I think it’s important to say yes to things. At first, I was so hesitant to go on the show. I was thinking people are going to judge me for leaving my kids at home to do this. Am I going to look selfish?

“Now I think it’s amazing that I actually did it.”