Celebrity Big Brother 2025 LIVE: Mickey Rourke says he’s ‘ashamed’ after being removed

Celebrity Big Brother is in full swing – and in the past week, we’ve seen a new selection of famous (and not-so-famous) faces live together in the reality show house.

Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke, 72, has been the cause of significant controversy, which led to his removal after six days.

The star was given a formal warning by Big Brother for making homophobic comments directed at 21-year-old Dance Moms star JoJo Siwa, but was ultimately thrown off the show by producers for a sexual comment aimed at The Only Way is Essex star Ella Rae Wise, 24, and threatening behaviour towards Love Island contestant Chris Hughes, 32.

Rourke grew irate when Hughes, in character as a pirate for a shopping task, “eyeballed” him. Rourke later apologised to Hughes, and told Big Brother he was “ashamed” of his actions and blamed it on his “short fuse”.

The controversy started immediately. While entering the house on 7 April, Rourke “ogled” the reality show’s co-host AJ Odudu, which caused viewers to call for the actor to be axed from the series. One person wrote on X/Twitter: “He should be removed for this. It’s disturbing, particularly after how he was with AJ, too.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for the programme told The Independent: “All Housemates receive Respect and Inclusion training and an extensive briefing from the Big Brother Senior team to prepare them for living in the House and to set out Big Brother’s expectation for appropriate behaviour and language.

“Housemates are monitored 24 hours a day and instances of inappropriate behaviour are dealt with appropriately and timely.” Rourke’s representatives declined to comment.

While many thought Rourke would get the boot during Friday night’s eviction, former Tory MP Michael Fabricant was eliminated.

Patsy Palmer, Trisha Goddard and Jack Shepherd now face eviction this week after their housemates voted for them to leave the competition.

The series continues at 9pm on ITV and ITVX.