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Big Brother’s most controversial winner has received a reception she’ll certainly never forget, after furious audience members effectively hijacked her victory interview.
Rochelle Rackham, 57, was crowned champion of the ITV reality series on Thursday night, beating fan favourite Lucinda ‘Twinks’ Burnett to the £100,000 prize following eight weeks of arguments, accusations and increasingly bitter divisions both inside and outside the house.
But while the public vote may have gone Rochelle’s way, the audience gathered for the live final seemed to have different ideas about who deserved the crown.
The moment quickly descended into chaos as deafening boos drowned out presenters AJ Odudu and Will Best, who struggled to get through their interview with the newly crowned winner.
The pair repeatedly attempted to calm the increasingly unruly crowd, but their pleas fell on deaf ears as audience members continued booing, with some chanting ‘Twinks should have won’ and others demanding a ‘recount’.
At one point, Will was forced to address the crowd directly, pleading: ‘Guys, guys, she can’t hear us speak.’
His efforts did little to improve matters, with AJ eventually admitting: ‘We’re going to have to shout.’
Despite the hostile reception, Rochelle managed to reflect on her victory, declaring: ‘All the suffering was worth it.’
Clips of the extraordinary scenes soon circulated on social media, where viewers were left stunned by what some described as an unprecedented moment in the show’s history.
‘This is the most chaotic moment in Big Brother history,’ one fan declared.
‘Never seen anything like that lmao interview completely hijacked,’ another agreed.
A third wrote: ‘The fact that’s a winner’s interview is wild 😭.’
Others were considerably less sympathetic towards Rochelle, with one viewer insisting: ‘Deserved every single boo should have been louder.’
Someone who attended the final even weighed in, admitting: ‘Ngl I was in the crowd and this sounds pretty iconic watching back 😂.’
However, not everybody was impressed by the audience’s behaviour, particularly given that Rochelle had, whether her detractors liked it or not, legitimately won the public vote.
‘She deserved an interview ffs,’ one viewer argued.
Another complained: ‘They have got to get a separate inside studio away from the crowd next year, some of the exit interviews this year including this one were pointless.’
And while the final may have been memorable for all the wrong reasons, Rochelle’s reception didn’t exactly come out of nowhere.
The mum-of-three has been at the centre of controversy practically since entering the house, accumulating a record 29 nominations and repeatedly finding herself accused of making offensive remarks about her fellow contestants.
Among the earliest incidents was an exchange with 18-year-old Charlotte, who lost her limbs after contracting meningitis as a child.
Viewers were horrified when Rochelle admitted she was frightened of people without limbs, telling Charlotte that she had initially been scared upon meeting her.
Although Rochelle expressed embarrassment about her feelings, her comments sparked considerable anger among housemates and viewers alike.
She subsequently faced another wave of criticism after making comments about 19-year-old Millie Jarrett’s weight, questioning her eating habits during a discussion about weight-loss surgery.
Later, Rochelle came under fire for remarks directed towards Yasmin, suggesting the teacher would secretly eat her pupils’ packed lunches before performing an impression of her doing exactly that.
She also made comments about Yasmin’s clothing size, prompting accusations of fat-shaming and a warning from Big Brother over her language.
But some of the most serious controversy surrounding Rochelle has concerned allegations of racism.
Earlier in the series, almost 500 complaints were made to Ofcom following an explosive confrontation between Rochelle and fellow contestant Johanne Cade.
The argument erupted after Rochelle overheard Johanne, who is Black, discussing an earlier kitchen disagreement and explaining why she felt Rochelle’s behaviour towards her had amounted to a ‘microaggression’.
Their subsequent row prompted accusations of racism and bullying from viewers, with Big Brother eventually intervening.
The controversy intensified when an offensive social media post Rochelle had shared 11 years earlier, targeting Muslims, resurfaced online.
A family source said Rochelle had deleted the post after recognising the offence it could cause and regretted sharing it.
They insisted the language did not reflect her values and that she would be genuinely sorry to anyone hurt by it.
Further questions were raised after it emerged that an allegedly racist anecdote involving a Black man on a train had been cut from the broadcast.
According to reports, fellow housemate Lynx challenged Rochelle about her language, before the pair made amends and she apologised.
And just days before the final, fresh allegations emerged that Rochelle had made an offensive remark about Chinese people during a conversation about takeaways, which viewers were never shown.
The Sun reported the allegation, although the comments have not been independently verified.
Evicted housemate Rhianna subsequently claimed on TikTok that Rochelle had made ‘racist comments’, while Philip Regan also revealed he had distanced himself from her because of something she had said.
Inside the house, Omar expressed disbelief that Rochelle had managed to survive repeated evictions despite the controversies.
‘I just can’t understand how Rochelle can say all those mad things and still be here and still get cheers bro,’ he told his fellow contestants.
ITV has maintained that housemates receive Respect and Inclusion training and are monitored around the clock, with inappropriate behaviour addressed by the production team.
Yet, despite everything, Rochelle emerged victorious over Twinks, with Yasmin finishing third, Samuel fourth, Lynx fifth, and Catrin sixth.
The result was particularly striking given that Twinks had emerged as a firm favourite with viewers, while Rochelle’s repeated confrontations had made her something of a villain to many watching at home.
Still, her victory also demonstrates that the audience making the most noise isn’t necessarily representative of the people actually casting their votes. And there is potentially more drama to come.
The housemates are due to reunite for a special episode on Friday night, offering them an opportunity to confront the controversies that have dominated the past eight weeks.
Whether the presenters will manage to hear anybody speak this time remains to be seen.
Big Brother: The Reunion airs tonight at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
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