Eliminated Big Brother housemate Omar El Mayer has reflected on the controversy he found himself at the centre of during his time on the show.
Wednesday’s highlights show saw Omar being evicted through the back door, before later sitting down with hosts GK Barry and Kate Lawler for an exit interview on companion show The Group Chat.
During the conversation, Kate told the latest evictee: “I’ve got to be honest, Omar, some of the conversations you had in there and some of the moments between you were really uncomfortable for us to watch.”
“Of course,” he responded. “Like you said, we did have a lot of highs and lows, and at the end of the day we are navigating a relationship on telly. Like, I remember, there was a point where I’ve literally sat down and I was like, ‘oh my days, I’m in a relationship’.
“There were times we did argue a lot, but there were also great times. I think, overall, at times where I was a bit nasty – and I didn’t mean to be that way – that wasn’t my intention.
“I feel like there was a lot of miscommunication between the both of us, I feel like there were times when I was trying to communicate something, but it didn’t come out the right way.”
He continued: “But we did have loads of conversations, loads of interventions, like, daily, we’d always speak about things, and we really did iron it out, I feel like, towards the end. And we just never saw that side of things ever again, really.”
Kate then asked him if he could “learn from this experience”, to which he responded: “Most definitely.”
When asked about his relationship with Rhianna, and the lessons he’s learned from it, he added: “Definitely being more open to understand, being more open to listen and really just giving everyone a chance and taking in everyone’s point of view.
“At the end of the day, life isn’t just one perspective, it isn’t just my perspective in life. It’s not only my world and the way I see it – it’s not say all, do all, be all. But sometimes I feel like the way I am as a person, and the way I come across, is, ‘yeah, everything I say is say all, do all, be all’, but that’s not how I am and that’s not how I see myself.
“But, I feel like I’ve definitely learned that I should probably listen more.”
A Big Brother spokesperson previously said: “All housemates receive respect and inclusion training and an extensive briefing from the Big Brother senior team to prepare them for living in the house and to set out Big Brother’s expectations for appropriate behaviour and language.
“Housemates are monitored 24 hours a day and any instances of inappropriate behaviour are responded to appropriately. Welfare and safeguarding are prioritised throughout the production, with a dedicated welfare team available to support housemates before, during and after their time in the house.”
TV watchdog Ofcom confirmed last week that it had received more than 22,000 complaints about Omar’s conduct, more than any housemate in the history of the regular series of Big Brother.
In previous seasons of Celebrity Big Brother, only incidents involving Roxanne Pallett and Jade Goody incited more complaints to the media regulator.
