An episode of Celebrity Big Brother was the most complained show of the past decade, according to new figures from Ofcom.
More than 25,000 people complained about the episode of the 2018 edition of the show, when Roxanne Pallett was allegedly assaulted by fellow housemate Ryan Thomas. The episode accounted for around half of all broadcasting complaints in 2018, making it by far the most complained-about programme of the decade.
Second in the list was Loose Women, which drew almost 8,000 complaints about an interview with guest Kim Woodburn.
The full list is:
- Celebrity Big Brother, Channel 5 – 30, 31 August, 1 September 2018 – 25,327 complaints about the incident involving Roxanne and Ryan
- Loose Women, ITV – 29 August 2018 – 8,002 complaints (of which 7,912 related to an interview with guest Kim Woodburn which resulted in her walking off set)
- UKIP: The First 100 days, Channel 4 – 16 February 2015 – 6,187 complaints of which the majority were that the portrayal of UKIP was misleading, offensive and biased
- Sky News – 27 September 2018 – 3,463 viewers alleged bias and defamation of character in the editing of Sky News’ interview with Tommy Robinson
- The X Factor, ITV – 11 December 2010 – 2,868 complaints that performances by Rihanna and Christina Aguilera were too explicit for broadcast before the 9pm watershed
- Channel 4 News, Channel 4 – 29 March 2019 – 2,717 complaints when presenter Jon Snow said, after a day of rallies and protests relating to Brexit, that he had “never seen so many white people in one place”
- Love Island, ITV2 – 1 July 2018 – 2,644 viewers raised concerns about emotional distress to contestants, specifically Dani Dyer becoming distressed after a clip was shown to her of boyfriend, Jack, with his former partner
- The Wright Stuff, Channel 5 – 6, 7, 8 December 2011 – 2,358 complaints that Matthew Wright and a guest made insensitive and inappropriate comments when discussing an article in the Daily Mail regarding the first murder case in the Hebrides for 40 years
- Big Brother, Channel 5 – 24 June 2015 – 2,024 complaints about comments made by contestants
- Sky News with Kay Burley, Sky News – 5 June 2015 – 1,838 complaints about the tone of Kay Burley interviewing chief executive of Merlin Entertainment, Nick Varney, in the aftermath of the Alton Towers roller coaster crash
