Big Brother fans demand housemate removed after inappropriate kissing joke

Big Brother 2024 has not even been on our screens for a week, and viewers are already fighting for the removal of one housemate after shocking scenes on Friday night.

Fans were left seething after Marcello, a 34-year-old youth mentor, told a lie following an interaction with Ali, a 38-year-old forensic psychologist, in which he claimed they shared an intimate moment outside the group.

However, that couldn’t have been further from the truth as Ali, who has a girlfriend, came out as a lesbian later in life and was visibly uncomfortable as Marcello continued the joke.

The drama started when Marcello and Ali went to the smoking area in last night’s episode, the night before the first eviction of this series.

Normally the smoking area is not shown to viewers, hence the questionable angle and unreliable footage, but ITV made an exception in this scenario to provide full context for what happened.

“Do you want to try that?” Marcello asked Ali, as he handed her his vape.

After she took a drag and he tried hers, Marcello commented, “We just kissed,” to which Ali giggled and told him, “It’s nothing!”

“I’m kidding,” he told her, before telling some other housemates outside the smoking area: “We just kissed, innit.”

“No, we didn’t,” Ali said, to which Marcello laughed, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. We didn’t kiss; I’m kidding.’

A few minutes later, Ali remembered what had happened in a conversation with Khaled and told him, “In the garden he said we kissed.

“And I’m like… he knows I have a girlfriend.”

“As long as he says, ‘I know she has a girlfriend,’ it’s fine,” Ali added, but her expression remained unamused.

Later, after the clock approached 1 a.m., Marcello joined Ali, Segun and Thomas in the kitchen, where he was met by an awkward silence.

Ali then imitated Marcello’s earlier comments, making him laugh before reminding him, “People are watching.”

He reached out to shake her hand and assured her that he was a “gentleman” behind this foolishness.

“You’re trying to ruin my life,” Ali frowned, causing Marcello to exclaim, “You came into the smoking room! You knew what you were doing.’

Ali scolded Marcello for continuing the prank and refused to hug him before walking away.

As the cameras panned to hosts AJ Odudu and Will Best on the live stage before the first evicted person was announced, the two hosts simply ignored Marcello’s comments, saying a vape kiss “ain’t nothing.”

It wasn’t long before viewers started writing angry posts on social media about what had happened, as well as expressing their anger at how the issue was seemingly dismissed by the presenters.

“Marcello literally preying on Ali like that is so mean I want him out of that house NOW,” outraged X user txbamxnmicxh_s.

“Ali is clearly uncomfortable with Marcello, and I want this man gone. He is a literal sex pest, and the producers can clearly see a problem with the way he acts because they show us the crunchy smoking room footage to confirm that Ali is not doing anything wrong,” MiichaelKing argued.

Marcello has repeatedly made sexualized comments to other female housemates throughout the week, repeatedly over-complimenting Rosie.

AJ, Will and the panellists on the spin-off show Late & Live also took issue with what happened, arguing ‘that’s just Marcello’, while house guest David Potts suggested it was ‘not that deep’.

AlfieS12 then posted: ‘AJ, Will and pretty much everyone in the studio are failing to address the fact that the Marcello/Ali thing happened in that one room in the house that we’ve never seen on TV before, and didn’t expect to see either. As if you don’t understand where Ali comes from.’

‘No, I’m sorry, but this is ALSO a dangerous conversation on Late & Live, you can’t excuse Marcello’s behavior for ‘that’s just Marcello’ and Ali needs to ‘chill’. I expected better from Will, but that was a shame,” agreed AshGarrod.

Echoing what thousands of others said, ohnocleoo wrote: “begging that we can take Marcello out next. claiming he kissed Ali knowing she’s a lesbian with a girlfriend, he’s actually being mean and it’s now bordering on fetishizing. no respect for her or her relationship and that seems to be a theme where men don’t take their relationships seriously’.

Numerous other viewers were shocked by the way Marcello’s behavior in the house ‘escalated’, implying it could be a ‘matter of days’ before bosses intervene.

Meanwhile, Ali has proven she’s a real hit with viewers and is already a firm favorite to take home the £100,000 prize at the end of the series.

She has spoken to her housemates several times about her sexuality, saying before the launch night that she is “unapologetically a late-in-life lesbian.”

She lives in Leicester and has been in a relationship with her current girlfriend for five months.

Big Brother airs Sunday to Friday at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.

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