Celebrity Big Brother surprisingly beaten to most complained about TV moment of 2025

Mickey Rourke’s repeated offensive behaviour on Celebrity Big Brother is not the most complained about TV moment of 2025 so far.

The Hollywood actor, 72, was eventually removed from the ITV show after making homophobic remarks directed at JoJo Siwa, using sexually inappropriate language in a conversation with Ella Rae Wise and for displaying threatening behaviour towards Chris Hughes.

Yet despite the mass outrage caused, Celebrity Big Brother is the second most protested about TV moment, according to the latest Ofcom data, with a total of 1,010 complaints.

With more than an additional 300 complaints received, a February 12 episode of Love Island: All Stars currently sits at the top spot.

In it, Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, 30, confronted her friend-turned-rival Elma Pazar, 32, about feeling a ‘weird grudge’ which erupted into a blazing row.

In third place is GB News show, Headliners, which received hundreds of complaints because presenter Josh Howie appeared to suggest the LBGTQ+ community included paedophiles.

According to the data compiled by betting firm OLBG for The Sun, Sabrina Carpenter’s risque performance at the Brit Awards was the fourth most complained about TV moment.

The Espresso singer, 25, later addressed the controversy with her trademark humour on Instagram, writing:  ‘I now know what watershed is!!!!’

Rounding off the top five is another Love Island: All Stars episode, followed by the first instalment of Britain’s Got Talent and Patrick Christys Tonight.

Good Morning Britain also makes two appearances – in eighth and tenth place – over accusations that Adil Ray ‘fat-shamed’ darts player Luke Littler and Ranvir Singh failing to mention that Jewish people were among the groups killed at concentration camps in the Second World War.

Last year, Ofcom revealed the programmes which had received the most complaints since the watchdog’s inception in 2003.

The top of the list, clocking up 54,595 complaints, was a discussion about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey on Good Morning Britain on March 8 2021.

During the episode, former GMB host Piers Morgan sparked huge backlash for saying that he ‘didn’t believe’ Meghan suffered from suicidal thoughts. It was found not to have breached Ofcom broadcasting rules.

In second place is a 2007 episode of Celebrity Big Brother that received more than 45,000 complaints for ‘the alleged bullying of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty by fellow contestants Jade Goody, model Danielle Lloyd and singer Jo O’Meara’.

Ofcom stated: ‘Channel Four was found in breach of the Broadcasting Code and was directed to broadcast a summary of Ofcom’s finding on three separate occasions.’

The ITV reality show also earned third place on the list over ‘an allegation from a housemate, Roxanne Pallett, that fellow housemate Ryan Thomas had deliberately and repeatedly physically assaulted her’.

In fourth place comes a historic moment that happened on Britain’s Got Talent four years ago, when Diversity performed a Black Lives Matter-themed routine on the programme, which sparked 25,000 complaints.

Completing the top five is ‘Faye’s behaviour towards Teddy’ on Love Island in 2021, which the watchdog determined ‘did not raise issues under our rules’. 

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