Mickey Rourke’s highly controversial comments during his time on Celebrity Big Brother were briefly addressed by Danny Beard during Friday’s final (25 April).
Coronation Street actor Jack P Shepherd was crowned as the winner of this year’s competition, triumphing over JoJo Siwa, Donna Preston, Chesney Hawkes and Chris Hughes, who all made the final.
Beard, a drag queen who has appeared on Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK, finished second overall. In their exit interview, the 32-year-old spoke about their interactions in the house with two of the most divisive individuals – Rourke and former Tory MP Michael Fabricant.
Speaking about Fabricant, Beard joked: “‘I thought I was this open book, this little queer boy. And then I was like, ‘Great, a Tory.’”
However, they caveated that statement by adding: “Actually I’ve learnt you’ve got more in common with everyone and if we all just take a breather in this world, we realise we’ve got more in common with people than we realise.”
After receiving a round of applause, Beard continued by speaking about the transgender community: “I don’t want to make this political but I have so many trans friends and I see the judgement that people like my trans friends get and everyone with an opinion of them doesn’t know a trans person. I’m sorry to get into that but that’s made me look at myself as well.”
Beard then turned their attention to Rourke, who among his many scandals on the show told Siwa, who identifies as queer, that he could “turn her straight”.
“Mickey had some abhorrent, awful views actually but I saw this little lost boy in there, this child that needed care and mother came out,” said Beard.
Rourke, 72, had been at the centre of controversy since his entrance when he “ogled” presenter AJ Odudu. He later faced calls to be ejected from the house for his homophobic remarks to Siwa.
He was ultimately thrown off the show by producers for his “inappropriate sexual language” aimed at Ella Rae Wise, as well as “threatening and aggressive” behaviour towards Hughes, 32.
Rourke grew irate when Hughes, in character as a pirate for a shopping task, supposedly “eyeballed” him. Rourke later apologised to the former Love Island star, and told Big Brother he was “ashamed” of his actions. According to evicted housemate Fabricant, however, the worst of what Rourke said was not broadcast.
Celebrity Big Brother launched earlier this month with a reach of 4.2 million (average of 2.7 million). The Big Brother brand has now surpassed 100 million streams on ITV, with the new series generating over 20 million streams so far on ITVX (an increase on the first series).
Applications for the next series of Big Brother are open. Hopefuls looking to embark on the “ultimate social experiment” can apply to be a part of the next series of Big Brother set to air later this year.
