Glyn said he had found people's reaction to him 'totally weird'
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Big Brother runner-up Glyn Wise is to take a year off to "get sorted out" and make the most of his new-found fame.
The 18-year-old from Blaenau Ffestiniog won a place at Bangor University to read Welsh despite being on the reality TV show during his A-level exams.
He has still to return to his home town where he has been hailed as a hero for using Welsh, his first language, in front of millions of viewers.
He said: "I'm not famous... all I've done is be on reality TV."
The part-time lifeguard is still coming to terms with the attention thrust upon him after his 93 days in the most public private house in the UK.
He said delaying going to university for a year would give him the chance to "enjoy everything".
He said: "All my life is completely changed. I don't understand, I just feel as though 'I'm Glyn'.
The Sun urged its readers to 'vote Glyn' in two languages
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"It's totally weird. It's amazing, the crowd [at the Big Brother final] and everything like that.
"We're getting people coming up to me and wanting to take my photo and stuff like that."
He lost out on the �100,000 first prize to Pete Bennett, 24, whose Tourette's Syndrome causes him to swear involuntarily.
But Glyn's determination to be himself in front of the cameras - in his own language - has won him the admiration of Welsh speakers.
'Dreaming Welsh'
Big Brother was initially hostile to him speaking in Welsh to fellow contestant Imogen Thomas, from Llanelli.
But later Welsh-language conversations between the pair were broadcast with a subtitled translation.
And the moment when Big Brother used Welsh in the diary room has been replayed by broadcasters.
Even The Sun newspaper ran a front page bilingual "vote Glyn/pleidleiswch Glyn" campaign.
Speaking on Radio Wales, he described how that had made him feel.
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I'd love to do anything for the Welsh language. It's close to my heart and I believe things should be done to keep it alive and in everyday life
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He said: "That's an awesome feeling that I've actually done that because what was annoying me more than anything was, like, people asking me when I went on holiday and stuff if "you actually think in Welsh" and "do you dream in Welsh?", and of course I do.
"I felt that nobody knew about the Welsh language, in a way, so I felt as though something needed to be done.
"I'd love to do anything for the Welsh language. It's close to my heart and I believe things should be done to keep it alive and in everyday life."
But his success has so far kept him away from his home town as he meets the demands for interviews. Apart from taking a year off, he has no firm plans, he said.
"As things come in day-by-day, I'm going to different places. I'm in different hotels all the time. There are different interviews with different people."
At some point this week he hopes to return to Blaenau Ffestiniog for a reunion with all his friends and family.
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