Last night (August 26), Stephen Bear was crowned the winner of summer Celebrity Big Brother 2016, taking just over a percentage more in the votes than runner-up and former EastEnders actor Ricky Norwood.
Bear / Credit: Channel 5
There's no denying that Bear has been the most-talked about celeb this series, with his behaviour gaining him the most screen time out of the entire bunch of famous faces inside the house. But does bad, bullying behaviour really equate to entertainment? Do I still want to watch a show where that type of behaviour is rewarded with a fantastic edit from the backstage crew and the British public who vote?
There's no denying Celebrity Big Brother is a very different show now when compared to the one we all fell in love with upon its debut, but I'm not afraid of change or evolution. However, when that change means we're telling people across the UK you can act like an inconsiderate fool and walk away loved, something's not quite right…
So is Bear Celebrity Big Brother's worst ever winner? I would say so - here's why I think the rest of the winners from CBB history were more deserving…
Jack Dee
Surviving two sets of evictions after being put on the block twice, Jack's dry sense of humour and quick wit meant that he was a pleasure to watch. Whilst his series only lasted a measly eight days he created the perfect formula for a Celebrity Big Brother winner - despite escaping during Anthea Turner's eviction to say hello to his wife.
Mark Owen
Claiming an incredible 77% of the votes to win after 10 days inside the house, Mark Owen cleaned up and took home the crown. He didn't make many big waves in the house but was certainly a pleasant guy with a lot of time for those around him.
Bez
The former member of the Happy Mondays won his series back in the days when the celeb winner would take £50,000 home. He used some of the prize money to improve his London Black Cab's engine and appeared on Pimp My Ride, but after getting out of bankruptcy he declared bankruptcy again in March 2008. Bez was a happy guy in the house, unafraid to get involved in confrontation if he felt he needed to fight his corner or defend someone - namely Jackie Stallone. He wasn't the most entertaining housemate and his comedown from smoking weed on the outside wasn't nice to witness, but his determination to see the entire competition through was something to admire.
Chantelle Houghton
The first female winner of Celebrity Big Brother just so happened to be an everyday civilian entering the house pretending to be someone she wasn't. Walking in as a 'nobody' but walking out as one of the most famous names in Big Brother history, Chantelle cemented a legacy and became involved in the first major CBB romance with Ordinary Boys band member, Samuel Preston. Her journey was fascinating to watch and she had such an incredible ride that she was invited back to compete on Ultimate Big Brother - Channel 4's final series.
Shilpa Shetty
In the darkest series of Celebrity Big Brother to-date, Shilpa was bullied and attacked because of her race and religion in the house, being called 'Shilpa Poppadum' and continuously being the butt of some very inappropriate jokes. She rightly took the victory after going through some highly traumatic experiences and finished the series with grace and class.
Ulrika Jonsson
Though she hated her entire time in the house, Ulrika sailed to victory despite being constantly put down by many of the men around her. Sexism was rampant in this series of Celebrity Big Brother and with Ulrika going in as such an underdog and coming out with the winner's title, it was a baffling yet very exciting time. Ulrika brought feminism to the mainstream through CBB and whilst at the time not many may have picked up on it, we should all be thankful for it now.
Alex Reid
Alex's time in the house was a little odd. For me he's not REALLY a celebrity, but seeing the calibre of some of the people we've had in the house recently, I'm willing to let him slide. With Katie Price unwilling to go into the house (at this point), the producers did what they could to get the next best thing - her partner and cross-dressing cage fighter, Alex Reid! His time in the show was perfectly fine, nothing special, and in a cast that didn't set the screen on fire he was deserving of winning.
Paddy Doherty
It was quite an experience watching Paddy float through life in the Big Brother house. He had little to no prior fanbase before entering and formed a bond with Sally Bercow - everything he did in the house was unpredictable and - excluding the occasional sexism - endearing. Plus, he stopped Jedward from winning. What's better than that?
Denise Welch
There is no denying Denise was and has always been herself when on television, no matter whether or not you agree with what she does. She didn't play up to the cameras and instead went through a slightly traumatic experience which ended in her winning the show. The way she was treated by certain members of the house - namely Michael Madsen - was hard to watch, and so the public decided to reward her honest and imperfect self with victory. She is everything a Big Brother winner should be - a complicated character with a good heart who doesn't claim to be perfect.
Julian Clary
His humour and upper class putdowns of his fellow housemates were enough to give Julian the win, and we can see why. He'd seem to be giving a fellow contestant a compliment but instead would insert the knife and twist, but in a way that meant he wasn't being COMPLETELY horrible. He would appreciate those around him for what they were and despite his flaws, he's a man we know we'd all love to see in the house again.
Rylan Clark-Neal
Is there a CBB winner who's done better off their win than Rylan? He was the righteous cause when confronted with Heidi and Spencer Montag and rightly won his series after tackling their game-playing and acting throughout. Now he's the host of Big Brother's Bit on the Side and we couldn't be happier. One thing though - who's going to take over when they want him in All Stars?
Charlotte Crosby
Another one who was completely herself in the house, Charlotte had a bumpy road because of her relationships with some of her fellow housemates, but in the end came out victorious as the first member of Geordie Shore to go on the show.
Jim Davidson
Here is a man I will say did NOT deserve to win. He was known as a sexist and went into the house prodding and poking fun not only at fellow housemate Linda Nolan, but her dead husband. He was a little man who got off on being horrible to women, and, if Bear hadn't won this series, would definitely be at the bottom of the pile. The less said about Jim, the better.
Gary Busey
An American winner! We didn't think it was possible, but someone from the US actually won Celebrity Big Brother. If there's a sure fire way to pick up a win, it's by being picked on by nearly EVERY OTHER member of the house you're inserted into. Gary is a confusing and I imagine at times, often irritating man. But he's also harmless and would do anything for anyone. He deserved his win more than most.
Katie Price
She finally went into the Celebrity Big Brother house and, despite being a late entrant, was the perfect person to take down villain Katie Hopkins. Though she mostly floated through the show she did provide the occasional hilarious anecdote about how her ex-lovers had loved having sex toys inserted in all sorts of places, and to see this side of The Pricey was pure bliss.
James Hill
James is quite simply a nice man. He got into a great bromance with American Austin Armacost in a series dedicated to pitting the British and Americans against one another, and they rightly took the final two slots of their series. James though was the only winner for me. He was consistent in his personality, stood up for himself when he needed to and treated everybody with a level of respect that not many in the CBB house would show.
Scotty T
Scotty's write-up here is going to be mostly similar to James'. Again he was a nice guy, mostly on the right side of arguments and unwilling to get into rows that weren't worth his time. Whilst I would have preferred someone a little more exciting to win his series, I don't hate him for taking home the crown. He's a great guy.
Tagged in Celebrity Big Brother