Christopher Biggins: 'Don't do Celebrity Big Brother if you want a career!'

27 March 2024

Christopher Biggins has warned others to avoid taking part in 'Celebrity Big Brother'.

Christopher Biggins has warned other celebs against taking part in Celebrity Big Brother

The 75-year-old pantomime legend enjoyed a huge career revival when he won 'I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!' in 2007 but was removed from the 'Celebrity Big Brother' house in 2016 after making comments deemed to be offensive and has now told other celebrities to avoid the series altogether if they want to have a career.

He told The Sun newspaper's TV Biz column: "I thought it was pretty bad. I don’t understand what people see in it. People are so horrible, and everyone’s pretending to be someone they’re not in order to win. Don’t touch it with a barge pole if you want a career."

During his short stint on the series, the TV star made comments towards former 'X Factor' contestant Katie Waissel that were deemed anti-semitic and 44 people later complained to broadcasting standards commissioner Ofcom over comments he made about bisexual people.

Ofcom later cleared Biggins over the comments about bisexual people - during which he described them as people just "not wanting to admit they are gay" - and he apologised to Katie for making a joke about showers to her but insisted that he had meant no harm with his words.

At the time, he said: "I am mortified by what’s happened, really mortified. Most of my friends, in fact, are Jewish. I apologised to Big Brother and Katie. I love Jewish people. Listen, my best friend is Lesley Joseph. You can’t get much more Jewish than that.

"I have a lot of bisexual friends and I’m not in any way a bigoted person.

"It’s just not in my vocabulary that word. So to be chastised for those sorts of things is very sad. Katie is a very sensitive girl with a few issues."

Biggins took part in 'Celebrity Big Brother' when it aired on Channel 5 but the format was recently revived by ITV1 and was won by 'Ibiza Weekender' star David Potts, with 'Strictly Come Dancing' professional Nikita Kuzmin as runner-up.