Dubliner, Ray Shah, has become the second Irish contestant on the British TV series Big Brotherto finish second.
Odds-on favourite Cameron Stout won the competition with 54.9 per cent of the vote from Artane-born Shah who was the 12/1 third favourite of the last four remaining in the competition.
A party political-style canvassing campaign around Dublin yesterday failed to deliver the requisite support to overcome the 1/4 fish monger from the Orkney Islands.
Emerging after nearly 10 weeks in the Channel 4 Big Brotherhouse, 25-year-old Shah said: "I'm going through hell, absolute hell".
Last year Kildare man Brian Dowling won the competition while in the inaugural series two years previously Anna Nolan a former nun from Dublin finished second.
Of the final four contestants this week, rank outsider Steph Coldicott (28) from Birmingham, was first to be ejected. She was soon followed by ScottTurner (27) a marketing coordinator from Liverpool.
Church-going Stout became red hot favourite after revealing that he is avirgin saving his virtue until after he wed. He has is now stg£70,000 richer having won the competition and experts predict his fame will easily earn him stg£100,000 more.
He is already being quoted by bookmakers at 16-1 for a job as presenter of BBC religious programme Songs of Praise.