Charley Uchea rose to fame on Channel 4’s incarnation of the reality show in 2007’s series 8 – going on to last 59 days in the house in a compeтιтion won by Brian Belo
A Big Brother icon has branded the new series a “load of s**t” after the reality show made a welcome return to screens last week following a five-year absence.
Charley Uchea, who was a housemate in 2007 – a series won by Brian Belo – admitted that although she’s grateful for what Big Brother has done for her, she won’t be tuning in. The 38-year old made her feelings known in an Instagram rant to her 262,000 followers.
Charley, who is now an influencer on the platform, wrote: “Please stop asking me if I’ve watched Big Brother. The answer is no, I think it’s a load of s**t.”
She continued: “I don’t watch normal TV at all. Yes I had a great experience from it and done well but I don’t watch it, simple.”
Charley added: “No one I know does either, tbh I don’t really watch TV at all.” Fans offered mixed reactions to her post, meanwhile, with some pointing out she’s still as feisty as ever.
One commented on X (formerly Twitter): “Charley still bringing it 16 years later, god the channel 4 housemates were a different breed. What a star.” Another penned: “She knows the show peaked with her!!!!” And a third declared: “Get her back in the house!”
Others were less impressed with her remarks, however, as one user added: “She always had an atтιтude.” A second joked: “Nice to see she’s still as positive as ever.” And a third wrote: “Still self obsessed as always.”
One of Charley’s most memorable Big Brother moments saw her fake eviction from the then-Channel 4 show in front of a silent crowd – only for her to return to the house on the same evening in a move that caused shockwaves amongst her co-stars.
In memorable scenes, the BB legend went on to clash with Chanelle Hayes, who walked from the house herself three days after Charley’s true exit. Before that, Charley had found herself on the receiving end of a racist scandal, which saw her suffer abuse at the hands of Emily Parr.
Emily was subsequently called into the Diary Room the next morning and banished from the series for using the N-word, which she later described as a “joke”.