Mickey Rourke is part of the current season of Celebrity Big Brother UK. However, he is one step away from getting kicked off my the production team thanks to disparaging comments he made about fellow contestant JoJo Siwa. The comments, deemed homophobic, have Rourke one step away from going home early from the series.
Here is what Rourke said to and about JoJo on the reality TV series and what he had to say about the controversy.
Mickey Rourke Insults JoJo Siwa On Celebrity Big Brother UK
Mickey Rourke, 72, had a small conversation with JoJo Siwa on Celebrity Big Brother UK and it made the legendary actor look terrible. The actor asked the former Dance Moms star about her sexuality in this week’s episode. However, his questions and later comments almost got him kicked off the show.
Rourke asked JoJo if she liked girls or boys. She answered, “Me? Girls. My partner is non-binary.” JoJo’s partner is Kath Ebbs (via Page Six). Mickey then made the comment that he could change Siwa’s sexual orientation during their time together on the reality TV show. “If I stay longer than four days, you won’t be gay anymore,” Rourke said. This was wrong on more than one level.
For one thing, Rourke is 72 and Siwa is 21. For another, Siwa is in a committed relationship with Kath, and this seemed wholly inappropriate. JoJo wasn’t having any of it either, as she took offense. “I can guarantee I’ll still be gay and I’ll still be in a very happy relationship,” JoJo responded.
Later in the episode, Mickey told cast mate Chris Hughes that he was “going to vote the lesbian out real quick.” He might not have expected for JoJo to hear him, but she did and let him know it’s “homophobic, if that was your reasoning.”
Mickey Rourke Almost Kicked Off Celebrity Big Brother UK
It didn’t end there. Mickey Rourke had more to say to JoJo Siwa. When Chris Hughes took up for JoJo and said that Mickey can’t vote her off for her sexual orientation, the actor seemed over it. But he added one more dig. “I need a f*g,” he said. “I’m not talking to you.”
When Hughes said that Rourke can’t use that language in the show, the actor said he was talking about a cigarette. The term is a derogatory name for a gay person, but it is also the British slang term for a cigarette. Rourke might have been referring to a cigarette, but when what he said after that gave it the derogatory meaning as well.
The producers called Rourke to the Diary Room and gave him a stern warning. “Mickey, before you entered the ‘Big Brother’ house, the rules regarding unacceptable language and behavior were explained to you,” the producers said.
They played the recording back and asked him if he would consider it offensive to JoJo and the viewers at home. “Yeah, I think so — if I was saying it in a nasty kind of way or if I truly meant it,” Mickey said. He was told the show would remove him if he made any more remarks like this.
Mickey apologized and said he was “talking smack” and wasn’t taking things seriously. “I didn’t mean in it any bad intentions, and if I did, sorry,” he said.
What are your thoughts on Mickey Rourke’s comments to JoJo Siwa on Celebrity Big Brother UK? Should producers remove him from the show? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Shawn S. Lealos has been a freelance writer for over 25 years and is a voting member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle. He is also a published author with a book about the Stephen King Dollar Baby Filmmakers.