£300,000 for Chantelle's life story

Five months ago, no one had ever head of her. Now Chantelle Houghton has signed a £300,000 deal to write her autobiography.

The 22-year- old Essex girl is the non-celebrity who won Celebrity Big Brother in January.

The book deal sees her join a small club of twentysomethings who have been paid a fortune to tell the story of their short lives.

Wayne Rooney, 20, has signed a £5million agreement with a publisher, while his fiancèe Coleen McLoughlin, 20, has one for £2million.

Last week, it was announced that Doctor Who actress Billie Piper, 23, will receive a six-figure sum for her autobiography.

And glamour model Jordan has already revealed all twice - at the age of only 27.

Given that the first 21 years of Miss Houghton's life passed without note, some feel her book may prove less than fascinating.

So she is expected to concentrate on the time since winning the Channel Four show in January when she has, as she puts it, been 'living the dream'. She has managed to keep her name in the news with a series of appearances in the tabloids and has announced her engagement to fellow Celebrity Big Brother contestant Preston, singer with the band The Ordinary Boys.

She is likely to employ a ghost writer for her book - while her simple hair-twirling ways won her much popularity on the show, by her own admission she has never been an intellectual.

Viewers saw her say of fellow contestant George Galloway: 'He's a right chauvinistic pig, whatever that means.' And on hearing basketball player Dennis Rodman boast of sleeping with 2,000 women, she gasped: 'That's more than 100! That's more than 500!'

Her autobiography will be published by Random House's Century division, which won a bidding war with three other publishers after sending her a giant wedding cake in celebration of her impending nuptials.

The deal raises Miss Houghton's estimated post-Big Brother earnings from television work, appearances and magazine deals to more than £1million. The dizzy blonde had been planted on the series by producers and earned her right to stay by fooling fellow contestants into thinking she was famous for being in a make- believe band called Kandy Floss.

Previously her only claim to fame had been occasional work as a promotions girl thanks to her nearly looking like hotel heiress Paris Hilton.