Celebrity Big Brother fans are eagerly waiting to learn if Mickey Rourke will be the first person evicted from the house following the homophobic comments he made toward housemate JoJo Siwa.
During the latest episode, the 72-year-old actor asked JoJo Siwa, “Do you like girls or boys?” to which the 21-year-old responded, “Me? Girls. My partner is non-binary.”
Mickey then said, “I know, I could tell,” before telling her, “If I stay longer than four days, you won’t be gay anymore.”
Siwa was clearly caught off guard by the comment but confidently replied: “I can guarantee I’ll still be gay and I’ll still be in a very happy relationship.”
The exchange could have ended there, but Rourke added, “I’ll tie you up.”
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Later in the garden, Rourke twice said he would “vote the lesbian out real quick”. Siwa overheard the comment and addressed him immediately: “That’s homophobic, if that was your reasoning.”
The 72-year-old former boxer then said: “I need a fag,” and immediately gestured to Siwa adding: “I’m not talking to you.”
Contestant Chris Hughes calmly told the actor: “You can’t say that Mickey,” but Rourke replied: “I know. I was talking about a cigarette.”
After Rourke walked out, Hughes said: “He’s just from a different planet, bless him.” Chris then consoled JoJo, who was visibly upset by the encounter. He affirmed that that kind of behaviour is unjustifiable and encouraged Jojo to “have a little cry,” which he described as his favourite form of therapy and a healthy way to release anger.
Following the exchange, Siwa used the Killer Nomination to put Rourke up for Friday’s first eviction. She described the decision as “pretty easy”.
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JoJo Siwa is an American singer who came out as pansexual when she was 17 years old, sharing: “I have the most amazing, wonderful, perfect, most beautiful girlfriend in the whole world, it’s not something I’m ashamed of, it’s just something I haven’t shown the internet yet.”
She added: “I always believed that my person was just going to be my person. If that person happened to be a boy, great! And if that person happened to be a girl, great! I think I’m just really happy. I think in life you know when you meet your person, I really do.”
Following his comments about JoJo, Rourke was summoned to the diary room where Big Brother told him: “Mickey, before you entered the Big Brother house, the rules regarding unacceptable language and behaviour were explained to you.”
Big Brother described the language directed towards JoJo as unacceptable and producers gave Rourke a formal warning toward the end of the episode, to which he said: “I apologise. 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.”
Rourke later issued somewhat of an apology to Siwa directly, saying he “didn’t say it out of meanness”, but fans were quick to call him out, describing his comments as “creepy” and “inappropriate”.
Meanwhile, fans have praised JoJo for handling the confrontational and uncomfortable situation well.
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