Tim Dormer had $20 when he went on Big Brother in 2013. Here’s how he spent his $250k winnings.

Tim Dormer changed the way Big Brother was played. In fact, there was no game play at all until Tim entered the Dreamworld compound. He was a cheeky, naughty, pot-stirrer who carefully manipulated the other contestants. His housemates were like putty in his hands – and they were oblivious.

And try as they might to play a masterful game of strategy like Tim, no contestant to date has been able to replicate his smarts.

After 101 days and countless evictions, in November 2013 he was crowned the winner, and made $250,000 richer.

Watch: Tim Dormer's winning moment in Big Brother 2013. Post continues after video.

Ten years on, Mamamia's Claire Murphy sat down with Tim on The Quicky, and he was more than happy to divulge where his winnings went.

Tim told Claire that he was a "struggling student" when he entered the house and had a mere $20 to his name. 

"We got paid a little wage to be on the show but it wasn't very much," he said. 

Tim said he made his first rookie error the day the money dropped in his account. "When I got the money transferred into my account, I actually posted a screenshot of my bank balance which was a whole other problem because my account details were public."

Yep, Tim says his account number and BSB became common knowledge, and soon people were setting up direct debits linked to his account.

"I had to call the bank madly, and they were actually already onto it," he said.

But that little faux pas wasn't 'the most embarrassing' part of it, rather it was the fact that the total in the bank account itself was precisely $250,020.

"I was so naïve," he said. "It was a dream come true moment that you never really get that sort of amount of suddenly money pop up in your bank account."

Listen to The Quicky where Tim shares more of where his winnings went. Post continues below.

So what did Tim spend the cash on?

"I gave good presents that year for Christmas. Actually, you know what I did? I filled up a pinata at our family Christmas lunch, and I filled it up with money, not lollies. I put $20,000 in a pinata," he told Claire, recalling how his nieces and nephews were the ones to benefit. 

"I'm pretty cheeky, I'm a bit of a devil at heart, but I've always been raised that if you win money, you give away 20 per cent - it's a bit of a churchy thing, but anyway."

In total, he gave $50,000 to his family. He then gave 20 other Big Brother housemates $1000 each, but there was a catch. He gave them the option to keep the money, or let him donate it to a charity of their choice. "Half kept it, half gave it away," he says.

Tim's most unusual splurge was a crocodile he purchased from Terri Irwin. The reptile's name? Tiny Tim, of course.

"One of the coolest and craziest things that came out of winning Big Brother was getting in touch with the Irwin family," Tim said.

“It was a sponsorship for crocodile conservation research that Steve [Irwin] set up. He was my childhood hero, so I thought that was a good cause.”

He rounded out his spending spree by purchasing two French bulldogs for around $10,000, and also a motor home, which he says was an amazing investment given the demand during COVID. He says he actually sold it in 2022 for more than he purchased it for a decade ago.

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There is just one thing Tim would change if he could turn back time. "I should've invested in property. I should have bought a house in 2013. But I didn't work for that money... it was all a bit of a life experience."

Feature Image: Big Brother/Nine/Mamamia.