A Bradford soldier who lost a leg serving in Afghanistan has got through the first round of auditions for the next series of reality TV show Big Brother.

Carl Clowes, 23, of Bolton, Bradford, who suffered 20 injuries in a roadside bomb blast in 2007, auditioned today in Manchester for the show’s last series on Channel 4.

The former Hanson School pupil, who was contacted last year by one of the show’s casting directors via Facebook, said: “I got fast-tracked to the front of the queue and had to fill out a short questionnaire about myself.

“They then did a ten-minute interview with me asking questions like why I had entered, what my plans are for the future and what I do day to day. I said I wouldn’t be applying if I didn’t want to do well in it.

“I got told I was through to the next round of auditions and then had to fill in a really big questionnaire which asked about my whole life.

“When I arrived at 8.30am, before the doors opened, there must have been at least 500 people there. When I left there must have been a couple of thousand.”

He added: “I didn’t have any nerves at first but once they called me for the interview the nerves started kicking in, but I didn’t stutter and I think I did really well.”

Mr Clowes, whose legs were severely crushed when the Land Rover he was in triggered a roadside mine in Helmand Province, will attend the next round of auditions on Sunday, which are also in Manchester.

He was awarded £92,000 for his amputated leg and a further £10,000 for injuries to his right leg by the Ministry of Defence, but he deemed the compensation to be insufficient due to the extreme and painful nature of his injuries.

Mr Clowes is appealing through the British Limbless Ex-Servicemen Association for a bigger army pension and more compensation for his injuries.

He is also fighting the MOD’s decision to try and reclaim £29,000 from him, after the department mistakenly put £48,000 into his bank account.

Series 11 of Big Brother is due to be screened in the summer.