Mickey Rourke's Celebrity Big Brother behaviour prompts over 1,000 Ofcom complaints

According to official Ofcom figures, 1,010 complaints were filed relating to the episode broadcast on Wednesday 9th April, in addition to 78 on 7th April and a further 52 on 10th April.

Rourke was heavily criticised for his behaviour and comments during his brief spell on the series and had been warned by producers before officially leaving the show on 12th April.

At the time of his exit, a spokesperson for Celebrity Big Brother said: "Mickey Rourke has agreed to leave the Celebrity Big Brother house this evening following a discussion with Big Brother regarding further use of inappropriate language and instances of unacceptable behaviour."

The episode on 9th April – which attracted the bulk of Ofcom complaints – saw Rourke using offensive language towards fellow housemate Jojo Siwa.

During a conversation with the singer, he asked her: "Do you like girls or boys?"

"Me? Girls. My partner is non-binary," JoJo replied, to which Mickey responded: "If I stay longer than four days, you won't be gay anymore."

Later in the episode Mickey asked Chris Hughes if everyone has to vote one another out of the house and then told him: "I'm going to vote the lesbian out real quick."

Meanwhile, after being told by JoJo that his language was "homophobic", he continued: "I need a fag," before gesturing to JoJo, adding: "I'm not talking to you."

When Chris then told Mickey that he couldn't speak that way, Mickey says: "I know. I was talking about a cigarette."

That wasn't the first time on the series his behaviour had come under scrutiny; in the very first episode, when co-hosts AJ Odudu and Will Best introduced the actor, he came up to Odudu, grabbed her by the waist and spun her around, prompting Odudu to ask him to "stop looking at me".

It was later confirmed that he had been asked to leave the show after "inappropriate sexual language" directed at Ella Rae Wise and "threatening and aggressive" behaviour towards Chris while filming a task on Saturday 12th April.

Rourke apologised for his behaviour and comments, saying: "I stepped over the line and I take responsibility for doing the wrong thing. 'Cos I lost my temper, and I've been trying to work on it my whole life and I wish I would have had better self-control and I'm very sorry.

"I'm ashamed of myself for losing it for a few seconds there. Nobody got touched or hurt. Maybe some feelings got hurt or maybe others have feelings about others getting upset but, you know, I'm sorry about that."

RadioTimes.com has approached ITV for further comment on this story.

Celebrity Big Brother airs Sunday to Friday at 9pm on ITV and ITVX.

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