There’s been a lot of speculation about what went down between soap stars Roxanne Pallett and Ryan Thomas in last night’s ‘Celebrity Big Brother’, so let us try and clear things up.
At 3.55pm, Ryan approached Roxanne and began making punching sounds, to which she she responded: “Owww! Woman-beater! That bloody hurt!”
Ryan immediately apologised, unaware that he’d seemingly hurt his fellow housemate, to which she joked: “I was going to ask if you want your washing on but I might shrink [your clothes] instead.”
Roxanne then wandered alone into the bedroom and said aloud: “I’ve just been beaten up by Corrie’s Jason Grimshaw. Big Brother that hurt.”
The pair’s exchange was not shown in close up, so it’s not clear exactly how much contact Ryan made with Roxanne, while a representative for ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ declined to comment when asked for more information by HuffPost UK.
What viewers did see was Roxanne being called to the Diary Room shortly after the incident, and the former ‘Emmerdale’ actress immediately asked if she could speak to a producer.
“I need to speak to a member of production if that’s alright,” she explained. “I just need to talk to somebody in production about something that’s just happened that’s made me feel really uncomfortable. But I don’t really want to go any further and talk about it on camera like this.”
Hours later, Roxanne was called back to the Diary Room, where she was told: “Big Brother has reviewed the footage, and Big Brother just wanted to let you know that Big Brother is going to speak to Ryan about this incident and Big Brother wanted to assure you that Big Brother takes matters like this very seriously.”
Clearly the matter wasn’t being taken seriously enough for Roxanne, though, who responded: “I’m just a little bit in shock. I went from being upset, to angry now because I’m… a boy has punched me repeatedly, unprovoked, completely deliberately. He actually punched me, like a boxer would punch a bag. And we weren’t play-fighting, it wasn’t banter, it wasn’t a joke, there was no exchange.”
She tearfully added:“I can’t believe you’re letting somebody stay that’s done that. It’s not OK.”
Following this, viewers were shown a clip of Ryan receiving a formal warning from Big Brother, who told him: “Before you entered the ‘Big Brother’ house, rules regarding unacceptable behaviour were clearly explained to you. Big Brother has called you to the Diary Room because you have broken this rule.
“At 3.55 today, Big Brother noticed that while almost play-fighting, you punched Roxanne in the ribs… whether you intended to hurt Roxanne or not is irrelevant.”
Explaining himself, Ryan said: “From your point of view… but I think we both know and Roxanne knows there was no malice or hurt or anger in anything that I did during this time. But from your point of view, while doing this show, I’m sorry and I understand.”
Towards the end of the episode, following a conversation in which fellow housemate Ben Jardine discussed his romantic feelings for her, Roxanne came to the Diary Room and said she “didn’t feel comfortable sleeping in the same room as Ryan”.
“I can’t sleep,” she solemnly complained. “I’m now suffering, and I’m having to altar my experience because somebody else was violent.
“I can’t believe you’re letting him stay here. It has to be [taken seriously] because it’s awful. I’m going to get nominated now for being unsociable.”
So far this series, ‘CBB’ bosses have already removed one housemate, showing “Human Ken Doll” Rodrigo Alves the door following an undisclosed “incident” in the house.
This came a week after the show was criticised for not booting him out when he used the n-word during his first night in the house.
Rodrigo has another version of events, though, claiming he chose to leave of his own accord, following his friend Natalie Nunn’s eviction. ‘CBB’ has denied this, but offered no further information regarding what led to his removal.
‘Celebrity Big Brother’ airs every night on Channel 5.