Celebrity Big Brother fans demand ‘vile’ Mickey Rourke is removed after homophobic comments
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Celebrity Big Brother viewers have called for Mickey Rourke to be booted from the house.
The Hollywood star, 72, has already come under fire for his behaviour towards host AJ Odudu during Monday’s premiere after he repeatedly grabbed her and acted ‘inappropriately’ towards her.
Now, a few days on, he’s been issued a warning for using a homophobic slur.
On tonight’s episode of the show, he was speaking to JoJo Siwa, 21 when he made comments about her sexuality.
‘Do you like girls or boys?’ he questioned.
JoJo, who went public with partner Kath Ebbs a few months ago, replied: ‘Me? Girls. My partner is non-binary.’
He then said: ‘If I stay longer than four days, you won’t be gay anymore.’
Hitting back, JoJo pushed back against his comment and said: ‘I can guarantee I’ll still be gay, and I’ll still be in a very happy relationship.’
Later speaking to Chris Hughes in the garden, Mickey said he was going to ‘vote out the lesbian real quick’.
Overhearing the exchange, JoJo told him: ‘That’s homophobic, if that was your reasoning.’
Jumping in, Chris told him ‘you can’t do that’, before Mickey said he needed a ‘fag’, meaning a cigarette.
However, he then gestured to JoJo, telling her ‘I’m not talking to you’ – seemingly in reference to the f word that’s used as a derogatory slur against the gay community.
What did Mickey Rourke say to JoJo Siwa on Celebrity Big Brother?
On Celebrity Big Brother 2025, Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke sparked uproar with homophobic comments that he made towards internet sensation JoJo Siwa.
Speaking in the House, Rourke, 72, asked Siwa, 21: ‘So do you like girls or boys?’
‘Me? Girls,’ Siwa answered, to which Rourke responded: ‘I know, I could tell.’
After the dancer shared that her partner is non-binary, the housemates who were in the garden started to talk about the eviction due to take place that week on Friday night.
‘If I stay longer than four days, you won’t be gay anymore,’ Rourke remarked, as Siwa said back to him: ‘I can guarantee I will still be gay and I will still be in a very happy relationship.’
‘I’ll tie you up,’ The Wrestler actor replied.
‘I can promise you that won’t happen,’ Siwa stated. ‘I dare you to try, you’ll be the one tied up.’
Rourke then spoke to some other housemates, asking about the process of voting out other contestants on Celebrity Big Brother.
‘I’m going to vote the lesbian out real quick,’ he said, as Siwa – who was lying on a sun lounger – turned her head towards him and declared: ‘That’s homophobic.’
‘Eh?’ Rourke asked, as Siwa continued: ‘That’s homophobic if that was your reasoning.’
After the actor repeated that he was going to ‘vote the lesbian out’, he then exclaimed: ‘I need a fag’ in reference to wanting a cigarette.
However, he then gestured towards Siwa and quipped: ‘Not talking to you,’ seemingly referencing the f word that’s used as an anti-gay slur.
Love Island star Chris Hughes, who was sitting next to Rourke, told him: ‘You can’t say that Mickey,’ while Siwa kept her composure and said: ‘One breath at a time troops, one breath at a time.’
After Hughes repeated his warning to Rourke, the actor insisted that he had been talking about a cigarette before walking off on his own.
The reality TV star went over to check on Siwa, consoling her as she cried in his arms over the upset. At the same time, Rourke was called to the Diary Room, where he received a formal warning for his remarks.
Later on inside the lounge, Rourke went over to Siwa as he told her: ‘I want to apologise,’ telling her that he has a ‘bad habit of having a short fuse’.
‘I don’t mean nothing by it. Ok sorry,’ he said as he shook her hand, while she told him that she appreciated his apology.
Rourke’s homophobic comments towards Siwa happened a day after he was criticised for touching presenter AJ Odudu ‘inappropriately’ on stage.
Reprimanded by Chris, Mickey then said he was ‘talking about a cigarette’ but his comment left JoJo upset.
Shortly after the exchange in the garden, Big Brother called Mickey to the Diary Room.
‘Mickey before you entered the Big Brother house the rules regarding unacceptable language and behaviour were explained to you,’ he was told.
After the entire exchange was read back to him, he was then asked: ‘Mickey, do you understand how this language could be offensive to your Housemates or the viewing public?’
‘Yeah I think so. If I was saying it in a nasty kind of way or if I truly meant it,’ he replied.
The actor was told that his language was ‘offensive and unacceptable’, with Mickey then saying ‘alright. I understand that’.
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Big Brother then explained: ‘As a result, Big Brother is giving you a formal warning. Further language or behaviour of this nature could lead to you being removed from the Big Brother house. Mickey, do you understand?’
He then replied: ‘Yes I do. It’s some serious stuff.’
After being asked if there is anything he’d would like to say, Mickey apologised.
‘I don’t have dishonourable intentions – I’m just talking smack you know. I wasn’t taking it all so serious. I didn’t mean in it any bad intentions and if I did, sorry.’
Soon after watching everything unfold, many took to social media to share their thoughts.
‘Mickey is such a vile man…just remove him from the house,’ Jacob posted on X.
‘He has shown absolutely no remorse whatsoever, vile behaviour from Mickey,’ Hannah shared.
‘Big Brother have a duty of care and therefore Mickey making them comments should’ve resulted in him being removed. A formal warning is not good enough,’ Crystal wrote.
‘Mickey knows exactly what he’s doing. The housemates shouldn’t have to deal with that sort of behaviour,’ Chantelle said.
‘Mickey Rourke not being kicked out of #CBBUK is harrowing based on the way he’s treated women from the get-go and the way he spoke to/about Jojo is so gross and so upsetting to watch,’ Phoebe declared.
‘Absolutely disgraceful…making a young woman feel like that just for being herself??? mickey needs to be kicked out asap,’ Izzy added.
When making his return to the group, Mickey declared he’d been ‘chewed out’, with Trisha Goddard telling him: ‘I guess it’s not what you say. It’s how it lands.’
He then said his comments were not ‘said out of meanness’.
‘I understand you might have thought it would be uninsulting but it’s the way it’s perceived on other people. JoJo was very upset earlier, bless her,’ Chris told him.
After Mickey offered JoJo a brief apology, she made it clear his comments were out of line.
‘As a future, using the word f** is not an acceptable word,’ she said.
After this the rest of the housemates sat down with Mickey ‘in an attempt to help him understand why his comments were offensive’.
He then pulled JoJo aside and said: ‘I want to apologise. I’ve got a habit of having a short fuse. And I don’t mean nothing by it. I do mean it [sorry]. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t say it to you.’
Saying she ‘appreciated’ his apology, JoJo then told Mickey: ‘Anything is ok to say in context and intention – that’s what matters. And if you say something wrong but you didn’t know and you’re open to hearing – all good!’
Celebrity Big Brother continues tonight at 9pm on ITV1.
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