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The Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke has been kicked out of the Celebrity Big Brother house over “instances of unacceptable behaviour” and “inappropriate language”.
The 72-year-old Bafta winner is understood to have used behaviour and language that was considered to be threatening and aggressive during a task, directed towards his housemate Chris Hughes, a former Love Island contestant. No physical altercation took place, according to the PA news agency.
Rourke had received a formal warning from Big Brother earlier in the week for “unacceptable language and behaviour” directed at another housemate, JoJo Siwa.
The 21-year-old US singer accused Rourke of being homophobic after he made comments about her sexuality and said he would “vote the lesbian out real quick”.
The Oscar-nominated actor had also asked Siwa if she “likes girls or boys”, and when she replied that she liked girls and her partner was non-binary, he said: “If I stay longer than four days, you won’t be gay any more.”
She responded: “I can guarantee I’ll still be gay and I’ll still be in a very happy relationship.”
Hughes, who has presented sports coverage for the BBC and ITV, told Rourke “you can’t say that” after the former boxer said he needed “a fag” and gestured to Siwa to add: “I’m not talking to you.”
Hughes, 32, comforted Siwa in Wednesday’s episode after the comments.
In the diary room, Rourke was given a formal warning and Big Brother said: “Further language or behaviour of this nature could lead to you being removed from the Big Brother house.”
Rourke then apologised to Siwa, saying: “I want to apologise. I’ve got a habit of having a short fuse, and I don’t mean nothing by it.”
Sunday’s episode showed the events that led to his departure. Rourke had earlier told Big Brother in the diary room that his housemates “seemed happy” that he had not left during Friday’s eviction episode.
“They seemed happy, for some reason. I did my hardest to get out of here. You know, I always went against the machine, and I don’t want to go through life, like, with a clenched fist any more,” he said. “I spent my whole life like this, and it gets hard. It wears you out.”
A spokesperson for the ITV show said on Saturday: “Mickey Rourke has agreed to leave the Celebrity Big Brother house this evening following a discussion with Big Brother regarding further use of inappropriate language and instances of unacceptable behaviour.”
Rourke won the leading actor Bafta and Golden Globe in 2009 for his role playing retired professional wrestler Randy “The Ram” Robinson in The Wrestler.
