Big Brother crowns one of most controversial winners in series history - The Independent
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This year’s series of Big Brother has been considered a classic series thanks to the relentless rows between housemates, and the controversial figure at the heart of the majority of the show’s clashes has been crowned the winner.
However, in an unusual twist, Essex housewife Rochelle Rackham, 57, was booed so loudly that hosts AJ Odudu and Will Best could barely interview her.
On Thursday (5 November), it was announced that Rochelle would take home the £100,000 cash prize after beating out her uber-liberal counterpart Twinks Burnett in what was considered a hotly contested finale branded “a modern-day Brexit” by GK Barry, host of companion show Big Brother: The Chat.
Rochelle had been booed all evening, and when she left the house to fireworks and what should have been a jovial atmosphere, she was jeered, while many of her ex-housemates remained in their seats, with stony looks on their faces.
During her exit interview, Odudu and Best were drowned out by the baying audience members, with Best – a contestant on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing – repeatedly urging them to quieten down. They never did, and Rochelle managed to evade being questioned about many of her clashes, save for a few questions about her rivalry with Johanne Cade, who was evicted in week two, and her mean treatment of Twinks when she entered the compound as a late entrant.
From day three, fish out of water Rochelle courted controversy after telling fellow housemate Charlotte, who lost all four of her limbs as a child, that she has “a bit of a fear" of people with "no arms". She also made divisive comments to week one evictee Millie while discussing her struggles with weight.
When Millie said she wanted to have a gastric sleeve, Rochelle suggested Millie could lose weight in other ways, stating that she “sees what” she eats.
Charlotte and Rochelle cleared the air before Charlotte opted to leave the show after two weeks, but Millie said on TikTok she felt her time on the show was defined by Rochelle’s comment about her weight.
Following this, Rochelle – who often rallied against cancel culture and “woke” behaviour, and said that she dislikes feminism – had a series of showdowns with Johanne and Pauline.
She scored favour with the public after overhearing a conversation about herself, which she later relayed inaccurately to her fellow housemates. Rochelle was left confused after Johanne and Pauline denied it ever took place instead of acknowledging that they had indeed had any form of conversation, and when she found herself up for eviction against Johanne, she survived. As Johanne left the house, Rochelle loudly declared: “Ding dong, the witch is dead.”
Appearing to be galvanised by crowd cheers, Rochelle soon sailed to the top of what was branded a “house hierarchy” that seemed to give her free rein to make cruel remarks to her fellow housemates without any blowback. It wasn’t until the final few weeks that her fellow housemates – including Phillip, Rihanna and Yasmin – distanced themselves from Rochelle, with Yasmin explaining that people find her comments hurtful. When she heard “Get Rochelle out” chants the week before the finale, she branded people in the crowd “saddos”.
Upon leaving the house, Rochelle was asked if she would be nicer to people in the future, considering that she had been mean to her fellow finalist Twinks upon her late entry in week two. Rochelle and Phillip ostracised Twinks in the first few weeks of the show, claiming they weren’t comfortable with change, and Rochelle acknowledged in her exit interview that she hadn’t “been very nice” to Twinks. However, she claimed she had been “egged on” by others.
Another controversy surrounding Rochelle was the allegations of racist language, which were reportedly cut from the episodes. It’s been claimed by evicted housemates on TikTok that Rochelle made Lynx – who finished in fifth place – uncomfortable with a remark midway through the series, and also that she made a similar comment to Omar. ITV chose not to air the alleged comments, prompting many fans to claim that Rochelle had been given a “hero edit” in the final few weeks of the show.
ITV told The Independent: "Editorial decisions are made impartially, affording all Housemates equal consideration. It is categorically untrue to suggest any individual Housemate receives editorial bias. We are committed to providing a balanced and fair representation of life in the House."
A typical feature of Big Brother winners in the past is the journey element – a trajectory that sees them enter the house as one person and leave the compound having learnt some lessons – and while Rochelle claimed that she would be more patient with people moving forward, she described it as “the worst holiday” of her life, adding: “It looks like I've got the last word because I'm winner winner, chicken dinner.”
She continued: “I can't tell you what this means. I think it’s absolutely incredible. I don't know who you are, but thank you so so much and I hope that I entertained you because I worked bloody hard in that house.”
This has been a landmark year for Big Brother, which has become the most-watched series since ITV rebooted the show in 2021. A reunion episode was shot after last night’s finale and will air on Friday (6 November).
