Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke has said he “tried his hardest” to exit the Celebrity Big Brother house before his eventual removal over the weekend due to “inappropriate language” and “unacceptable behaviour”.
The 72-year-old Bafta-winning star of The Wrestler had caused considerable controversy from the outset of the ITV1 reality show, upsetting housemates including JoJo Siwa, the American singer and dancer, with remarks about her sexuality, which moved her to tears in an earlier episode.
On Sunday evening’s broadcast, viewers were shown footage of Rourke explaining his feelings to Big Brother in the diary room, prior to being informed of his removal. “They seemed happy, for some reason,” he said, referring to his fellow contestants. “I did my hardest to get out of here. You know, I always went against the machine, and I don’t want to go through life, like, with a clenched fist any more. I spent my whole life like this, and it gets hard. It wears you out.”
However, it was his conduct during a pirate-themed shopping task that proved the final straw. During the challenge, US star Siwa was assigned the role of captain. Rourke clashed with Love Island contestant Chris Hughes, at one point telling him: “Don’t f****** eyeball me, you c***.” The outburst shocked fellow housemates, with drag performer Danny Beard and Siwa stepping in to de-escalate the confrontation.
Rourke had also made an off-colour innuendo to The Only Way Is Essex star Ella Rae Wise, following a comment from her during the same task. Wise later confided in Big Brother, stating: “It just makes me feel on edge. I don’t like the jokes, like the sexual jokes being made towards me. I’m a young girl and I’m not a piece of meat.”
Summoned to the diary room, Rourke was formally reprimanded. Big Brother told him: “Earlier today in a disagreement with Chris, your language and behaviour was threatening and aggressive. Big Brother does not tolerate threatening language or behaviour. In addition, you have used inappropriate sexual language to Ella.”
Rourke responded: “Oh, I’m not aware of that but OK.” He later expressed remorse, saying: “I stepped over the line. And I take responsibility for doing the wrong thing. Because 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… but I’m sorry about that.”
More Read
After being told he would be leaving the show, Rourke accepted the decision, adding: “I wanted to leave yesterday actually but I wasn’t chosen.” The actor had been up for eviction on Friday alongside ex-Conservative MP Sir Michael Fabricant and Coronation Street star Jack P Shepherd, but was saved by the public.
Following Rourke’s exit, Sir Michael reposted a message on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, which announced the actor’s departure, simply adding: “He wanted to leave on day one.”
Earlier in the week, Rourke had received a formal warning from Big Brother after saying he would “vote the lesbian out real quick”, referring to Siwa. Hughes was seen comforting the visibly upset Siwa in a separate episode.
ITV confirmed the decision in a statement, citing “further use of inappropriate language” and “instances of unacceptable behaviour” as the cause for Rourke’s removal.
Celebrity Big Brother continues on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player, airing Monday nights at 9pm.
