CBB’s Roxanne Pallett ‘punch’ row is the most complained about TV moment of the DECADE with 25,000 complaints
CELEBRITY Big Brother was the most complained-about TV show of the decade, it emerged yesterday.
Watchdog Ofcom said an episode in last year’s Channel 5 series when Roxanne Pallett falsely alleged Ryan Thomas assaulted her drew 25,237 complaints.
The ex-Emmerdale actress was heavily criticised for accusing soap star Ryan of punching her, later saying she got it "massively wrong".
The episode accounted for about half of all complaints in 2018.
An episode of Loose Women featuring Kim Woodburn as a guest came in second, with viewers criticising the way the star was treated by panellists.
Top of the list for 2019 was Channel 4 News (2,717 complaints) when presenter Jon Snow said, after a day of Brexit-related rallies and protests, he had “never seen so many white people in one place”.
Tony Close, Ofcom’s director of content standards, said the volume of complaints received about a programme is “not necessarily a sign that broadcasting rules have been broken”.
He added: “Overwhelmingly, the most contentious programmes of the 2010s were either reality shows - like Love Island, Big Brother and The X-Factor - or news and current affairs.”
Ofcom found that its broadcasting rules had been broken in 55 cases this year.
Most complained about TV shows of the decade
- Celebrity Big Brother, Channel 5 (2018): 25,327 complaints about the 'punchgate' incident involving Roxanne Pallett and Ryan Thomas.
- Loose Women, ITV (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 (2015): 6,187 complaints, of which the majority were that the portrayal of Ukip was misleading, offensive and biased.
- Sky News (2018): 3,463 viewers alleged bias and defamation of character in the editing of an interview with Tommy Robinson.
- The X Factor, ITV (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 (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 (2018): 2,644 viewers raised concerns about emotional distress to contestants, specifically Dani Dyer becoming upset after being shown a clip of boyfriend Jack Fincham with his former partner.
- The Wright Stuff, Channel 5 (2011): 2,358 complaints that host Matthew Wright and a guest made insensitive and inappropriate comments when discussing an article about the first murder case in the Hebrides for 40 years.
- Big Brother, Channel 5 (2015): 2,024 complaints about comments made by contestants.
- Sky News with Kay Burley, Sky News (2015): 1,838 complaints about the tone of Kay Burley interviewing chief executive of Merlin Entertainment in the aftermath of the Alton Towers crash.
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