Big Brother receives more than 500 Ofcom complaints over alleged ‘racism and bullying’ following explosive scenes between Johanne and Rochelle

DAILYMAIL • 5h ago

By CAROLINE PEACOCK, SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER 18:41 30 Sep 2026, updated 18:44 30 Sep 2026

Big Brother has faced a fresh wave of Ofcom complaints following a heated row between housemates Johanne and Rochelle.

It’s now been three weeks since the housemates first entered the famous Big Brother house, and tensions have been running high from the very beginning.

Sunday’s (September 27) episode featured one of the most explosive scenes yet, forcing Big Brother to step in to break up the argument.

Now, Ofcom has confirmed that 493 complaints were submitted in relation to that tense episode, as reported by The Mirror.

The majority reportedly concerned allegations of racism and bullying directed at Rochelle by fellow housemates, with comments made by Johanne among those referenced by viewers.

The broadcasting regulator also recorded 91 complaints about the episode that aired on September 21, which was also highlighted in last week’s report.

Viewers mainly raised concerns over alleged racial comments and remarks relating to nationality made by Johanne and Omar during the episode.

The row that led to the most complaints started after Rochelle overheard Pauline and Johanne chatting about microaggressions.

The two were talking about their own experiences of it, which are often described as subtle comments or actions linked to someone’s race or another marginalised identity.

Meanwhile things between Johanne and Rochelle had already been tense for a while.

They previously fell out after Johanne decided to reheat chicken Rochelle had cooked for the house.

Johanne felt the chicken wasn’t cooked properly, which quickly turned into an argument.

So while talking to Pauline, Johanne appeared to suggest that Rochelle’s reaction had been ‘micro aggressive’.

She said: ‘My situation with Rochelle felt like a microaggression because I feel like if anybody else was over there heating up their food, say Rhianna, would [Rochelle] have reacted like that?

‘And that’s how you can really decipher a microaggression a lot of times – is just put anybody there that looks like that person, would their behaviour still be the same?’

Rochelle heard her name being mentioned and went straight to Rhianna, Lynx and Omar to tell them what she’d heard.

She asked: ‘Would you say, since we’ve been in here, that Rhianna and I have been racist in any way, shape or form?’.

She then told the group that Pauline and Johanne had suggested she and Rhianna were racist and microaggressive, although that wasn’t quite what had been said.

Rhianna was left upset after hearing she’d allegedly been called racist.

Yasmin, however, wasn’t convinced Rochelle had got the full story right and tried to clear things up.

But that only made things worse when Johanne found out Rochelle had repeated the conversation to the rest of the house.

The two then came face-to-face in the kitchen, with Johanne insisting: ‘Nobody said anything about Rhianna.’

She then called Rochelle ‘stupid, dumb and a troublemaker’.

The argument quickly became more heated, with Rochelle shouting: ‘F*** off! F*** off!’.

Johanne fired back: ‘You’re trashy, you’re trashy. Bye!’

Big Brother eventually had to step in and called Johanne to the Diary Room, saying over the speakers: ‘This is Big Brother, would Johanne come to the Diary Room?’

The explosive scenes left many viewers uncomfortable.

Big Brother airs nightly at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.

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