A former Coronation Street star has spoken out about David Platt actor Jack P Sherpherd’s first few days in the Celebrity Big Brother house and urged ITV bosses to give him more air time.
Nicola Thorp, who played Nicola Rubinstein on the ITV soap, appeared on ITV’s Lorraine alongside stand-in host Christine Lampard and TV expert Lucie Cave on Thursday to speak about the latest headlines, including the controversy surrounding Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke’s appearance in the house.
Rourke has drawn lots of attention for his behaviour in the house and has been labelled a “misogynist” and “homophobic” for his comments towards American singer JoJo Siwa which got him a warning from TV producers.
During their chat about him Lucie said Rourke was taking up all the air time with Nicola agreeing that many of the other housemates, which include Patsy Palmer, Angellica Bell and Chris Hughes, were not getting any coverage during the show.
Nicola said: “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.”
Christine interjected: “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.”
During the chat, Christine said Rourke’s comments made her “cringe” as Lucie and Nicola wondered if Big Brother had done enough to put an end to his comments. The Hollywood star, 72, branded JoJo a “f**” before going on to body shame actress Donna Preston and further insult EastEnders icon Patsy Palmer’s cooking skills.
After discussing his outrageous remarks on-air, Christine asked: “It’s almost so obvious that this is just not the way you’re supposed to be,” as she asked: “Is he just wanting to be voted off? Is that maybe the game plan?”
Lucie explained that the actor could be doing it on purpose, stating: “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.”
She further aired: “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?”
Nicola wondered: “Do you think it could be a front?” As Lucie stated: “Yeah, it could be,” as Christine commented: “Anything’s possible, we’ve seen it all before haven’t we.”
