remarkably calm for a man having freshly emerged from the eye of a media storm, Jon Tickle perches quietly in the pavilion of Badshot Lea Cricket Club casting an eye over the wildly varying accounts of his remarkable TV voyage.

Mobbed by a crowd of 50 while out clubbing at the weekend, his cult Big Brother status shows no sign of fading after a memorable month on the Channel Four reality-soap.

Undaunted by tabloid jibes labelling him a 'techno-nerd,' the 29-year-old Norwich-born data strategy manager, gained an impressive following with his quirky ways and inventions such as the Tickle Toaster.

Greeting me warmly at what has become one of his favourite retreats, he is dressed casually in jeans and T-shirt, having lost the Mohican haircut he sported the previous day.

Sounding in fine form, he set the record straight on everything from flirtations with housemate Justine and surviving near clinical starvation.

Jon confessed to having doubts about the Big Brother challenge - especially after psychiatrists warned that going in would make him the most "hated man in Britain!"

"I was expecting a bad reception from the public and friends when I came out, but people have been hugely supportive and said I should still be in there," he said.

His reaction to some harsh media coverage has been philosophical - though he angrily refutes tabloid claims he gave up a £70,000 job to be on the show and that he is a virgin.

"I've seen the headlines and the things that have been printed about me - Vulcan bore Jon, Big Brother bore. I can appreciate building databases is actually relatively boring to some people, but that's who I am and I love my work and I am not going to apologise for it. I am more than happy with the way the public have perceived me, and for some unknown reason they seem to have quite liked me!"

Amongst his many fans was the Sun newspaper, which launched a campaign to keep him in the house, and have offered to patent his ingenious toasting invention.

Locally, friends at the Badshot Lea club had also willed him on, acknowledging he has become an integral part of their scene whipping up a mean barbecue.

"My mate Alex Warren lives there and a lot of the lads from University who live in London come down to play cricket here. I don't pick up a bat but do the barbecue, sit out on the grass, read a book and have a few beers. It's perfect down here. It's a very nice club all very friendly and hugely supportive of me."

There was clearly a massive amount of pressure going into the house with serious prize money at stake, so what were his first impressions of fellow contestants?

"It was terrifying - trying to just look around and find out who everyone was and memorise names. There were loud members (in a good way), such as Nush and Ray who were full of life and zest. It was all overwhelming"

This year's Big Brother has come under fire for lacking in excitement from major bust-ups or secret passion, and Jon revealed that an already artificial scenario became even worse.

"It was frustrating - with 12 people out of 100,000 you can see they are interesting but it just didn't come across as much as it might have done because no-one was willing to discuss anything of any value, so loud people have been voted off."

One of the most intriguing relationships in the house was between Jon and Justine Wage. Was there anything serious going on there?

"No romance was ever on the cards though we are similar people - we are both professionals, perfectionists and very strong-willed."

His money is now on quiet man Scott to win, believing he has a lot more to offer in the coming weeks.

For his legion of admirers (there are more than 3,000 sites which bear reference to him on the internet), his finest hour in the house came in revealing plans for the Tickle Toaster. As with the best ideas it is brilliantly simple - it works by keeping bread warm while you are buttering another piece.

So where to next? Jon is returning to his old job in Staines. "I look forward to going in every day as my work is about the human side of technology. They were supportive of me taking three months unpaid leave to do the show.

"But for the moment I will be doing some fun stuff like going to the Charlie's Angels film premier where I want to meet Jennifer Connelly, who will also be attending, as she is the most beautiful woman in the world."