Luke Toki has been crowned winner of Big Brother VIP following a nail-biting grand finale where he competed against Josh Carroll and Ellie Gonsalves.
With a mix of international and Australian celebrities entering the Big Brother Hotel, the competition has been fierce over the past few weeks as stars like Caitlyn Jenner and Bernard Curry battled it out to be named champion.
In the end, it came down to the alliance of Ellie, Josh and Luke, with the trio working together to evict Jessika Power and Imogen Anthony in the penultimate episode.
But – as our dazzling host Sonia Kruger would say – there can only be one winner. And tonight, Luke took out the top prize.
The much-loved housemate – who shot to fame as the King Of The Jungle on Australian Survivor – was already stoked after winning $10,000 for his charity, Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation for Cystic Fibrosis Clinical Research, in the final challenge.
“I’m so happy because even if I don’t win this thing it means they get something!” he told Big Brother after winning the challenge. “Ten grand is just a piece – but I want the whole cake!”
Fortunately for Luke, he walked away with the total $100,000 for his charity plus the $10,000 from the challenge. Luke reveals the charity “aims to improve treatment outcomes for kids, including those children living with Cystic Fibrosis.” Dear to his heart as his daughter, Maddie, suffers from Cystic Fibrosis, the star was visibly overcome with emotion after his win.
“I get to go home and tell the kids Dad won,” an ecstatic Luke told Sonia Kruger.
“I finally have done it, I have won something and thank you to everyone that supported me,” he continued. “Thanks to you, Ellie and Josh, I will remember this moment forever. I love you.”
”It’s so great that I now get to go back to Perth Children’s Hospital and give them a stack of cash,” he added after his major win.
Luke famously received upwards of $550,000 via a fan-led GoFundMe after his second stint on Australian Survivor in 2019. The reality TV star had returned to the show with the aim to win the prizemoney to help with the cost of Maddie’s hospital bills.
Raising more money than the Survivor prizemoney of $500,000, Luke and his wife Mary kindly donated the rest to charity – with $10,000 going to the Perth Children’s Hospital. Now, he’s able to donate an additional $110,000 to the charity.
Opening up about the life-changing amount of money he received on Big Brother earlier this month, Luke said it was “hard” to talk about what the support meant to him.
“When I played the second time I left a sick daughter at home and it was the most gut-wrenching thing in the world, but I wanted to win the money to support my family,” Luke told Big Brother in the Diary Room.
“Big Brother, I’ve come from nothing – I’ve worked pretty much my whole life and I risked everything to become the King of the Jungle. I tried my hardest, and even though I lost again the Australian public were amazing to me and gifted me the money.”
“It’s hard talking about it, I hate talking myself up,” he added.
Congratulations to Luke on his impressive win! Next up, The Bachelorette Australia and Love Island Australia finales. It’s a good time to be a reality TV fiend.
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