Channel 5 won’t be investigated over CBB Winston’s anti-gay remarks
It appears that Celebrity Big Brother evictee Winston McKenzie has escaped a rap on the knuckles for homophobic comments he made on the racy reality program, as the UK television watchdog has decided to not reprimand Channel 5 for airing a pre-recorded anti-gay slur.
Earlier this month, the polarising former UKIP spokesperson stated in a prerecorded video package that to “cope with a homosexual in the [CBB] house”, he would “have to stand with my back to a brick wall”.
While the fallout of the remarks saw some 400 viewers file complaints to Ofcom, a spokesperson from the broadcast industry watchdog has confirmed the investigation into McKenzie’s remarks would not proceed any further, Daily Mail reports.
“We are satisfied that Channel 5 broadcast clear and appropriate warnings about the potentially offensive content, and intervened in heated exchanges and situations at appropriate times,” they said.
“We have also taken into account the audience’s expectations of this well-established reality format, and that the series is aired after the watershed.”
Evicted in the first week of the current series, McKenzie also claimed CBB producers had “set him up” after he refused to share a bed with male housemates.
“I was targeted from the start, it was a case of ‘Get Winston Out’. I honestly believe I was a threat. It brought me back to being in UKIP,” he said.
McKenzie believed his past comments comparing gay adoption to child abuse was also used in a deliberate “set up”. “They [producers] could have waited with that. They know that these issues are very emotive,” he said.
“But I had three, four days in the house, I got the exposure I needed, and I would recommend the whole thing to everybody.”
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