A former star from Coronation Street has shared her thoughts on Jack P Shepherd's first days inside the Celebrity Big Brother house, suggesting ITV should give him more spotlight.
Nicola Thorp, who is known for her role as Nicola Rubinstein on the long-running ITV soap, joined Christine Lampard and TV pundit Lucie Cave on ITV's Lorraine to discuss current news, focusing on the stir caused by Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke in the reality show.
Rourke has attracted criticism for his behaviour within the Big Brother residence, earning him tags such as "misogynist" and "homophobic" after comments directed at American singer JoJo Siwa, leading to a formal warning from the show's producers.
In the midst of discussing Rourke's conduct, Lucie pointed out that he seemed to dominate most of the airtime. Nicola concurred, expressing her concern that other participants, which include Patsy Palmer, Angellica Bell, and Chris Hughes, were being overshadowed in the broadcasts.
Nicola commented: "We've not even seen some of the characters... Jack Shepherd, we've hardly seen Jack, I know Jack, he's amazing, he's such a party animal and an incredible character so I'm surprised that we've not seen much of him but I do think he'll do well, he's a very likeable guy so it wouldn't surprise me if we actually saw a lot more of him," reports Plymouth Live.
Christine weighed in: "That's what happens isn't it when that big, big character sort of takes up all the air time to begin with and then the quieter ones filter up through and they end up winning it in the end."
Conversation turned awkward as Christine admitted Rourke's outbursts were causing her to "cringe" while Lucie and Nicola deliberated whether Big Brother was addressing his controversial conduct. Rourke, the 72-year-old actor, had ignited tension by hurling a homophobic slur at JoJo and proceeding to make derogatory comments about Donna Preston's physique and Patsy Palmer's culinary capabilities.
Confronted with his shocking behavior, Christine posed the question: "It's almost so obvious that this is just not the way you're supposed to be," she asked, probing the possibility: "Is he just wanting to be voted off? Is that maybe the game plan?"
Lucie suggested a deliberate ploy on Rourke's part, asserting: "I don't think he's planning on being in there very long but I really don't know. He's a fascinating character albeit a pretty awful one at the moment."
Pursuing that line of thought, Lucie revealed her confusion: "I really don't know what his actual game plan is because he acts like he didn't even know what Big Brother was but... does he? Or does he not?"
Speculating along with the others, Nicola questioned: "Do you think it could be a front?" To which Lucie responded: "Yeah, it could be," and Christine rounded off with some wisdom: "Anything's possible, we've seen it all before haven't we."
In the latest episode of Celebrity Big Brother which aired on Wednesday, Mickey sparked an emotional response from LGBTQ dancer JoJo following a conversation about her sexual orientation. Mickey inquired of the influencer, "Do you like girls or boys?" to which she replied, "Me? Girls. My partner is non-binary."
Mickey then made a controversial remark to her, saying, "If I stay longer than four days, you won't be gay anymore," prompting JoJo to assertively respond, "I can guarantee I'll still be gay and I'll still be in a very happy relationship."
Celebrity Big Brother and Coronation Street are on ITV1 and ITVX
English (United States) ·