Russell Brand was led to the cells just before 3pm on Thursday, swapping his gilded lifestyle for a stark existence in the British penal system as he awaits sentencing on Monday.
The 51-year-old has likely started off in a Vulnerable Prisoner Unit, which offers some protection from other inmates, but he will still face the humiliating routine experienced by all newcomers.
On arrival, Brand had to hand over his clothes at reception before being strip-searched to ensure he was not carrying contraband. He now wears grey prison-issue jogging bottoms and a matching sweatshirt, and has been assigned a prison number by which guards will know him.
First night in custody
Instead of high-end organic products, Brand is being fed processed, cheap food. He received a 'first night pack' containing toiletries such as a toothbrush and toothpaste, along with a food pack including cereal, tea, longlife milk and sugar. Inmates are also issued a single toilet roll, plus t-shirts, sweatshirts and underwear.
Brand is being monitored around the clock and was given a three-minute phone call upon arrival. His exact location has not been confirmed, but reports suggest he is being held at either Wandsworth or Belmarsh prison. The jail where he will serve the majority of his sentence has not yet been determined, with the UK Prison Service reportedly yet to decide.
Becker's warning
Boris Becker, the three-time Wimbledon champion, broke down in tears as he described surviving incarceration with murderers, one of whom threatened to kill him. Becker was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in 2022 after being found guilty of hiding £2.5 million in assets to avoid paying debts following his bankruptcy.
Becker said he learned a 'hard lesson' that taught him to 'look in the mirror'. He said: 'I was immediately confronted with a reality that I had no experience with. It was dangerous. I tried not to look anyone in the eye and stay in my corner.'
'Wandsworth is really big, really dirty, extremely dangerous, there are murderers, paedophiles, drug dealers, you meet everyone. It's about surviving. You go out of your cell and you need to save your skin, the guards won't do it for you.'
Life as a number
Becker described an altercation with an inmate who was 'in for murder'. He said: 'He wanted to kill me. He couldn't accept that I was friends with Black inmates. He underestimated that other inmates would come to my help and threaten him.'
'There was an inmate who was in jail for murder and he wanted to get at my money. He started to blackmail me and said he'd have me. He started off being friendly but turned out to have other intentions.'
Becker added: 'In prison you are a nobody. You are only a number. Mine was A2923EV. I wasn't called Boris, I was a number. And nobody gives a s*** who you are.'
He described meagre portions of food, widespread violence and few opportunities to exercise. But he said: 'I believe I rediscovered the human in me, the person I once was. I've learnt a hard lesson. A very expensive one. A very painful one.'
