Big Brother was such a hit with the public that producers decided to make a celebrity version. The show took a six-year break starting in 2018, with the last winner being Coronation Street star Ryan Thomas.
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However, Celebrity Big Brother returned at the beginning of the year (2024). The 2024 cast included big names such as Louis Walsh, who revealed he had a type of blood cancer, and Fern Britton, who spoke about the controversial Phillip Schofield.
As per Digitial Spy, it has been confirmed that both Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother will return in 2025. Paul Mortimer, ITV's Director of Reality Commissioning and Acquisitions said:
Big Brother programming has firmly established itself across ITV's platforms and become a favourite with our viewers.
We’re therefore very excited to be able to throw open the House doors once again for another series of both Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother in 2025 which are sure to promise more unmissable entertaining and captivating moments.
As the producers prepare for the next Celebrity Big Brother series, do you remember some of the show’s biggest controversies?
Jade Goody’s silent eviction due to racism
In 2007, the Celebrity Big Brother line-up included Jade Goody, S Club 7 singer Jo O’Meara and media personality Danielle Lloyd.
Unfortunately for these celebrities, their time on Celebrity Big Brother was not remembered for the best of reasons. As per The Independent, the trio were accused of racist bullying toward fellow housemate, Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty.
Goody received the most backlash as she had referred to Shilpa as ‘Shilpa Poppadom’. As expected, the public was outraged by her behaviour. The situation was serious, a protest took place in India and tensions grew between the Indian and UK governments.
At the next public voting, Jade Goody was evicted from the Big Brother house. However, as per The Standard, producers decided it would be best if there wasn’t a crowd for her exit. This meant that Goody was met with silence when she was evicted, with 82% of the show’s viewers voting her out.
Following her exit, Goody apologised for her behaviour.
Jeremy Jackson’s removal by producers
Another big controversy occurred on the show in 2015, when Baywatch actor, Jeremy Jackson was removed from the show following inappropriate behaviour toward glamour model, Chloe Goodman.
As per The Independent, the actor had been indulging in alcohol, mixing his drinks, which included rum and vodka. Jackson later excused himself to the bathroom to throw up - the bathroom being one of the only places without cameras.
Concerned for her housemate, Chloe followed him to the bathroom to check on him. Chloe’s microphone then recorded her telling Jeremy ‘That’s not OK, I’m leaving now’. Chloe then left the bathroom in tears.
The model later told the other housemates that Jeremy had ‘put my b**b out’.
He went to my dressing gown top and put my b**b out.
Jeremy Jackson then spoke about the incident in the Diary Room, claiming it was a mix of ‘innocence and curiosity’. However, producers had deemed his behaviour ‘wholly unacceptable’.
As a result, that night he slept in a separate area and was forced to leave the next day. The Hertfordshire Police was involved but they only issued the actor with a caution.
Ken Morley removed over racism and more
It seems as though 2015 was a big year for controversies in the Celebrity Big Brother house. As per The Independent, Benidorm and Coronation Street actor, Ken Morley was removed from the show after only six days for several reasons.
Firstly, the actor had reportedly used the n-word when speaking to soul legend Alexander O'Neal. Ken’s son, Roger, later issues an apology on his father’s behalf on social media.
Secondly, as per Mirror, Ken had caused issues with several women in the house after he followed Cami Li and Chloe Goodman into the shower after seeing them head in with their bikinis and joked:
This is the best place to look at arses in the world.
Moreover, in the same episode, the Corrie star had called fellow housemate, Cami Li ‘half Moroccan, half sl*t’.
Katie Hopkins saw his comments as a ‘joke’ but several others, including Nadia Sawalha and Perez Hilton didn’t. Nadia and Alicia called out Ken for his comments saying it was ‘totally inappropriate behaviour’ while Katie defended the then-71-year-old claiming ‘it’s funny’.
Ken then doubled down, after Perez told him he had ‘offended’ people with his joke, he simply stated he didn’t care. As per Mirror, he said:
It matters not to me what they think. To stir the c*** up a bit I went in and said there's always one place you can go to get a really good view of an ass.
Christopher Biggins accused of biphobia
In 2016, British pantomime star, Christopher Biggins took part in Celebrity Big Brother. However, he was removed from the show after producers decided he said ‘a number of comments capable of causing great offence’, as per The Standard.
Days before his removal, Biggins had made several offensive statements regarding bisexuality, race and religion. Christopher, who is openly gay, was accused of biphobia after comparing bisexuality with aids.
He told fellow housemate, Mob Wives star Renee Graziano, as per The Independent:
Gays had been really badly treated, then suddenly they became respected. Then a killer disease came that was attributed to homosexuals. I think it was a bisexual disease to be honest.
Moreover, in unaired scenes, Biggins had reportedly made comments to Katie Waissel, who is Jewish, that were considered ‘plainly capable of causing offence to Katie and the viewing public’.
Following these incidents, Biggens was told about the decision in the Diary Room and then removed from the Big Brother house.
Read more:
Louis Walsh reveals he went on Celebrity Big Brother after he was offered close to £1 million
King Charles and Queen Camilla's former butler joins Big Brother: Who is Nathan King?
Celebrity Big Brother: From Sharon Osbourne to Zeze Millz, how much are the celebs worth
Sources used:
Digital Spy: ‘Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother to return to ITV in 2025’
The Independent: ‘Celebrity Big Brother: The most controversial moments’
The Standard: ‘’Big Brother returns: we look back at the biggest moments, the controversies and the stars
Mirror: ‘Celebrity Big Brother's most explosive exits after Christopher Biggins booted out’
Mirror: ‘Celebrity Big Brother: Ken Morley angers female housemates with "offensive" joke about their a**es’
