Jewish CBB star Katie Waissel blasts Christopher Biggins’ sick Nazi death camp ‘joke’
SHOCK jibe made singer — whose great-gran fled the Nazis — break down in tears
CELEBRITY Big Brother star Katie Waissel has blasted “nasty and insincere” Christopher Biggins over his shocking anti-Semitic “joke”.
The former X Factor finalist revealed that she broke down in tears in the CBB diary room and also saw a psychologist after the veteran actor’s death camp comment.
Biggins, 67, was removed after he told the Jewish singer: “You better be careful or they’ll be putting you in a shower and taking you to a room.”
Speaking exclusively for the first time about the incident, Katie revealed Biggins’ jibe was especially painful as she had earlier told him about her traumatic experience visiting the Auschwitz gas chambers.
Katie, 30, said: “My great-grandmother Katie, who I’m named after, and her husband Sydney escaped the concentration camps.
“They were living in Poland and escaped while their town was under siege. It was incredibly difficult for them but luckily they got out.
“But they lived and breathed the horror of it. It’s very real to me. So there you go, Christopher Biggins, you nasty, nasty person. It’s disrespectful to me, my ancestors and every family who have history tied to this dreadful place.
“They would be horrified I had to listen to him say that. My whole family have been really upset by it. My mum called it a hate crime.”
She went on: “The thing that is shocking is I got so emotional earlier that day talking to him about my trip to Auschwitz.
“I told him I went through the gate and you walk around and you see where all the bunkers are and you get taken into the showers.
"Then I walked through and saw where people were lined against a wall and shot and where the bodies were burned.
“I held my breath in the showers, I wanted to honour the lives lost. It was such a tortured place, such an intense experience, especially being Jewish myself. That’s why he said what he said later.
“That’s bad, it wasn’t an off-hand comment. It’s just so weird. I’ve just poured my heart out to you about an experience and then you say that to me moments later.”
Biggins, in an exclusive interview with The Sun on Sunday after his removal from the Channel 5 series, claimed Katie had not appeared offended by the remark.
However she says: “That’s crazy for him to say I wasn’t offended. I was offended and he knew that. I was mortified. I couldn’t believe it had come out of his mouth. There was just silence. Everyone else in the room was shocked.
“I sort of went, ‘Oh’ and immediately got up and said, ‘OK then, I’m going to go to the diary room’. I didn’t want the situation to escalate so I removed myself from it.
“We’re not talking about going to get a bagel at 3am on Brick Lane. We’re talking about Auschwitz where more than a million people were tortured and killed. My history, my heritage. I’m proud to be Jewish.
My family lived and breathed the horror of it. It’s very real to me. So there you go, Christopher Biggins, you nasty, nasty person
"I went in the diary room and said, ‘I can’t believe what has just come out of Christopher Biggins’ mouth. It’s anti-Semitic. It’s terrible’.”
Katie, who was bullied for being Jewish when she was a teenager, went on: “I had a bit of a cry because I didn’t want to feel trapped in an environment where people could attack me over who I was. In the diary room a psychologist came to see me for a good 30 minutes. Big Brother said they would speak to him. They were appalled and encouraged me to talk to him about it.
“It was overwhelming. I felt very vulnerable, I wanted to show people I was all right on that show and wear my heart on my sleeve and this came out of the blue like a sucker punch.”
It was not the only controversial opinion voiced on the show by former I’m A Celebrity winner Biggins.
Katie and her fellow housemates were left stunned by remarks he made about the HIV virus being a bisexual disease.
I was mortified. I couldn’t believe it had come out of his mouth. There was just silence. Everyone in the room was shocked
She said: “We were all a bit surprised at how loose-lipped he was. I mean, he’s a national treasure and he’s excited and happy and fun. But there were some crazy things he said that made us turn our heads.
“I don’t think his issue is with Jewish people. I think the issue is he should know better not to make crude remarks about Aids and bisexual people. He doesn’t have a filter on his opinions and humour.”
She claims he only realised the severity of his death camp “joke” later that day.
Katie said: “He was complaining about something trivial someone had said and I replied, ‘What’s the difference between saying that and what you said about me and the showers?’ I think that was a penny-drop moment.”
Although Katie did not want him removed, she was left unimpressed by his apology, where he called her “a sensitive girl with a few issues”.
She said: “He slagged me off after supposedly apologising to me. It’s like he punched me in my face, put a plaster over it and punched me again in the same spot. You made an anti-Semitic comment. I’m not surprised I’m sensitive about it. I think the whole nation would be.
“Do I think that it’s sincere? No. Apologise and mean it or don’t apologise at all. I’m disappointed.
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“I genuinely thought he’d be a friend on the outside. He’s not the Biggins I thought he was.
“He’s a grown man. What else are you saying behind closed doors? What are you laughing about with your friends that you think it’s OK to say stuff like that? It’s really not OK.”
She also blasted Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn after he compared Israel to IS.
Katie said: “What a son of a bitch. I can’t believe anti-Semitism is in the Labour Party. He shouldn’t be running for Prime Minister. It’s absolutely awful.”
Katie hopes her ordeal on the show will help discourage bullying. She said: “I was bullied when I was about 15. I got phone calls from people saying ‘You Jew, you bloody Jew, I’m going to f****** kill you’. Anti-Semitism is still around. It’s disgraceful.
“I’m so against bullying in all shapes and form. As a celebrity Biggins had a platform to promote positive messages and instead he used the show to put a comment like that in the public consciousness.”