Skip to content

Celebrity Big Brother: Roxanne Pallet incident tops 2018 Ofcom complaints

PA/Getty Ryan Thomas and Roxanne PallettPA/Getty
An incident on CBB involving Ryan Thomas and Roxanne Pallett attracted the most complaints

Celebrity Big Brother was the most complained about TV programme of 2018, broadcasting regulator Ofcom has confirmed.

The show received 27,602 complaints in total, the vast majority of which related to an incident involving Roxanne Pallett and Ryan Thomas.

Pallett claimed Thomas had punched her, but viewers who'd seen the footage said he was only play fighting.

The Emmerdale actress later apologised, acknowledging she "got it wrong".

This was the last series of Celebrity Big Brother to air on Channel 5 after the network announced they were not renewing either the celebrity or regular version of the show.

Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock Coleen Nolan, Janet Street-Porter and Kim Woodburn on Loose WomenKen McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock
Janet Street-Porter attempted to mediate between Coleen Nolan (left) and Kim Woodburn

The second most complained about programme was an episode of Loose Women which saw Kim Woodburn clash with Coleen Nolan.

The pair, who had fallen out on a previous series of Celebrity Big Brother, attempted to sort out their differences live on air.

But the row ended with Woodburn becoming emotional and walking off set. Nolan took a break from the show and cancelled all her other work after the clash.

Other TV shows to receive complaints included Sky News, Emmerdale and Coronation Street.

An episode of Love Island, in which Dani Dyer became visibly distressed when shown footage of boyfriend Jack being housed with an ex-girlfriend, also attracted complaints.

If his reaction to topping last year's chart is anything to go by, Piers Morgan will be disappointed that Good Morning Britain was only in seventh place this year.

presentational grey line

2018's most complained about shows

Getty Images Jack Fincham and Dani DyerGetty Images
Jack Fincham and Dani Dyer won this year's Love Island
  1. Celebrity Big Brother - 27,602 complaints (25,327 of which related to the incident involving Pallett and Thomas, with 1,101 complaints about Rodrigo Alves using a racial slur).
  2. Loose Women - 8,002 complaints (7,912 of which were about Kim Woodburn's clash with Coleen Nolan).
  3. Sky News - 4,251 complaints (3,462 of which alleged bias in the editing of a Tommy Robinson interview, 592 related to comments by Kay Burley's comparing Simon Weston's injuries to a woman wearing a burka)
  4. Love Island - 4,192 complaints (of which 2,644 were about Dani Dyer being shown a video of boyfriend Jack being housed with one of his ex-girlfriends. A further 632 raised concerns about the emotional wellbeing of contestant, Laura Anderson, while 540 were about perceived unfair editing of contestant, Samira Mighty.)
  5. Coronation Street - 1,098 complaints (of which 214 related to the storyline involving the date-rape of David Platt, 211 related to Billy Mayhew taking drugs in a church, and 95 about Pat Phelan's murder of Luke Britton).
  6. Emmerdale - 759 complaints (366 related to an acid attack storyline, 116 related to the murder of Gerry Roberts).
  7. Good Morning Britain - 548 complaints (86 felt Piers Morgan displayed bias in favour of President Trump during an interview with Ash Sarkar, and 74 related to Adil Ray's introduction of the show as "Good Morning Asian Britain").
  8. This Morning - 402 complaints (133 raised concerns that a guest who featured in a segment about breastfeeding was not sufficiently expert).
  9. I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! - 335 complaints, most of which were about the use of animals in bushtucker trials.
  10. The X Factor - 286 complaints (of which 104 related to Cheryl's performance, and 95 concerned sound issues on a pre-recorded episode.)
presentational grey line

Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected].