Big Brother’s Krystal Forscutt: My big news!

The former reality TV star and pin-up has turned her life around and is set to wed her tradie beau.

By her own admission, Krystal Forscutt never dreamed she could be so “ecstatically happy” as she is today. “When I think about it, I just don’t know how I deserve it,” says the former model, 26, who’s had a chequered career since bursting onto the scene in 2006’s Big Brother as one half of a mother/daughter duo, famed for their matching breast surgery. “I was young and from the country and thought, ‘This is exciting!’ And it was, for a time,” she says.

Despite carving out a successful career as a swimsuit model after the show, down-to-earth Krystal was desperate to break out of the bikini-girl mould and moved to Melbourne to start afresh. “I never really liked it, to be honest,” she says of her time as a lad mag staple. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was young and silly. I just didn’t think anything through.” But finding work after being splashed across the cover of men’s magazines wasn’t easy, she says.

“I would go and work as a waitress, handing out food, and I’d just get hassled by guys… they think you’re a piece of dirt.” Disillusioned, she aimed for something more fulfilling. “I always wanted to get into personal training, so I got a job as a receptionist at a gym while doing the course,” reveals Krystal, who found it tough being recognised. “People would say rude things like, ‘Oh, you’re not doing too well, obviously – you are working at a gym. But that made me tougher. I’d be, like, ‘Everyone else has a job, why can’t I? And I actually like this job!’”

After working as a trainer for two years, Krystal decided to move back to Sydney to be closer to her family. On her first night back in town, she reluctantly agreed to go to a media launch with a girlfriend. Little did she know that her future husband – a handsome builder named Neil Hipwell – was also being dragged along.