Oh brother, Claire's in the big time

CLAIRE Sweeney, the former Brookside soap actress, has joined the ranks of the showbusiness elite. Conservative estimates put her current earnings at more than £3 million.

Sweeney, who played Lyndsey Corkhill in Brookside for six years, became a household name after appearing in Celebrity Big Brother last March.

Her popularity grew during the show and she made it to the final two, but on leaving the house she became a big star and her earnings rocketed.

Marks & Spencer signed her to promote its lingerie in a £400,000 deal and she was paid £250,000 to present ITV's Challenge Of A Lifetime. At the end of 2001 she took over the part of Roxie, left, in the hit West End musical Chicago, which is thought to earn her up to £10,000 a week. And she recently signed a record deal worth £1.5 million.

Sweeney's biggest luxury? The telephone - 'sending text messages at all hours of the day and night to keep in touch with friends and family'.

She reveals how she spends her wealth in the latest issue of Financial Mail's sparkling new magazine, MONEY, on sale now.