He arrived on Day 50 in a pin-striped white suit, and left 50 days later having won the hearts of a nation.

24 year-old Zach, the openly gay corset maker from Victoria, narrowly missed out on winning Big Brother tonight by just 500 votes out of hundreds of thousands. Instead, 21 year-old blonde hairdresser Aleisha took out the title of the winner of the seventh series of Australian Big Brother.

Corset maker Zach entered the Big Brother house on Day 50 and was quickly slated to be evicted, as has been the tradition for every intruder for the past seven years. He entered the house exactly halfway through the series, with odds of 67 to 1 according to Lasseters betting agency, but firmed up to the outright favourite the day of the final eviction, with odds of $1.57 to one.

Zach’s final words before the result was announced were simple clear: “I’m Zach, I’m 24 years old, I’m gay and I’m extremely grateful to be here.”

Not only is Zach the first intruder to ever make it to the final two Big Brother finalists, he is also the first openly gay guy. Of the six previous winners of Big Brother, only one has been a female, and all previous winners fit a certain mould – the Aussie bloke-next-door.

Zach spent his final day in the big brother house in the steam room and applying bronzer (which he spent the ad breaks wiping off after seeing himself on the television and claiming he looked orange).

In probably the gayest thing ever on Australian TV, Zach and Aleisha left the house and travelled to the studio on a giant Mardi Gras-style float, complete with fake pink flowers and fireworks.

The show was padded out for extra time after the producers claimed that the result was so close between the two finalists that they needed more time to recount the votes.

As the winner, Aleisha takes home $450,000 in prize money, with runner-up Zach walking around with $20,000, a new car and a holiday.

Good on you Zach, you did us all proud.

What do you think about the verdict? Catch up on the chatter in the forums.

Update: If you’re as enamoured with the gorgeous dress that Aleisha was wearing last night as we are, we’ve tracked it down for you. It’s a design by Backstage Clothing and available from Glue stores, Tuchuzy in Bondi, Peel in Newtown and Darlinghurst, Universal stores and Red Cordial in Brisbane. Hot!

Update 2: Link to Zach – Bring On The Boys!