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Patsy Palmer has broached the subject of her refusal to answer a question about Mickey Rourke after leaving the Celebrity Big Brother house.
Viewers were left squirming when Palmer remained silent when asked by co-host Will Best about her “tricky” encounter with the Oscar-nominated star of The Wrestler, who was kicked off the series after a series of controversial run-ins.
When Rourke was in the house he heavily criticised Palmer’s cooking – and Best asked the EastEnders star about this in her exit interview. However, she stared back at him and refused to answer the question.
“You don’t want to talk about the broccoli, do you?” Best replied and, when his co-host AJ Odudu pushed Palmer on whether Rourke’s comments about her cooking had “upset” her, she cryptically replied: “Erm, not really that.”
Appearing to address the interaction. which was called ‘awkward” by viewers, Palmer wrote on Instagram Stories: “There’s nothing awkward about silence. It says it all!”
Speaking on Late & Live, Palmer suggested she started enjoying her time on the show when Rourke left.
At one stage in the series, Rourke made Palmer cry when he said she “can’t cook”, after she made several meals for her fellow housemates. “What do you know? You can’t cook,” Rourke told Palmer, who responded: “I can’t cook?”
“Not even a little bit,” replied Rourke, to which Palmer, laughing the comment off, told her fellow housemates: “I hope that might have been a sarcastic joke.”
However, later on, Palmer broke down in tears in the Diary Room and expressed frustration that she hadn’t stuck up for herself.
“I tried to talk that one out but it didn’t really work,” she told Big Brother. “I feel like I let myself down there and I don’t want my reactions to be like that. I always want my kids to always stand up for themselves.
“Maybe it was just a joke – maybe I need to look at it like that. I need to try to rise above it. It doesn’t mean I have to like him.”
Rourke’s six-day run in the house came to an abrupt end on 13 April after displaying “threatening and aggressive” behaviour towardsLove Island star Chris Hughes and using “inappropriate sexual language” towards The Only Way is Essex star Ella Mae Wise.
Controversy surrounding the actor began as soon as he arrived on the show, after he “ogled” CBB presenterAJ Odudu and made homophobic comments to Dance Moms star Jojo Siwa.
Rourke was issued with a formal warning by ITV producers after using a slur aimed at Siwa. The interaction started when the actor told the dancer: “If I stay longer than four days, you won’t be gay anymore.” He then said that he would “tie” her up.
Siwa pushed back at the comment, saying: “I can guarantee I’ll still be gay, and I’ll still be in a very happy relationship.” Rourke apologised to Siwa hours later.
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.
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