Mickey Rourke said he is “ashamed” of his controversial behavior on Celebrity Big Brother UK.
The Oscar-nominated actor, 72, was asked to leave the Big Brother house on Saturday, April 12, following a tense verbal confrontation with fellow housemate Chris Hughes. In scenes that aired on ITV in the U.K. on Sunday, April 13, Big Brother told Rourke that it deemed his behavior and language “offensive and threatening.”
Rourke admitted, “I did wrong. I apologize. I’m sorry.”
“I stepped over the line. I take responsibility for doing the wrong thing,” he continued. “I lost my temper, and I’ve been trying to work on it my whole life. And I wish I would have had better self-control. I’m very sorry. I’m ashamed of myself for losing it for a few seconds there.”
During a shopping task, Rourke got into a heated exchange with former Love Island UK star Hughes, telling him, “Don’t f****** eyeball me, c***.”
“Mickey Rourke has agreed to leave the Celebrity Big Brother House this evening following a discussion with Big Brother regarding further use of inappropriate language and instances of unacceptable behaviour,” a Celebrity Big Brother spokesperson told Us Weekly on Saturday.
In the “diary room,” Rourke said, “I blame myself. I know it was my bad. I got a short fuse, and I know I upset a lot of people out there. I’m sorry for that.”
“I’m ashamed of myself for getting that hot,” the Wrestler actor added. “I went over the line. I did wrong. I guess I can say I’m a work in progress.”
As well as the incident with Hughes, 32, earlier last week, Rourke received a formal warning in Big Brother’s “diary room” for violating “rules regarding unacceptable language.” He offended fellow housemate JoJo Siwa after telling her that if he stayed in the house “longer than four days, you won’t be gay anymore.”
“I can guarantee I’ll still be gay,” Siwa, 21, shot back, “And I’ll still be in a very happy relationship.”
Siwa then overheard Rourke telling Hughes that he was “going to vote the lesbian out real quick,” prompting the Dance Moms alum to respond, “That’s homophobic, if that was your reasoning.”
In the “diary room,” Rourke was told that his “language was offensive and unacceptable” and was warned he could be “removed from the Big Brother house” if there was another incident.
Rourke eventually apologized to Siwa, telling her, “I’ve got a habit of having a short fuse. And I don’t mean nothing by it. I do mean it [sorry]. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t say it to you.”
In response to the exchange, the actor’s rep Kimberly Hines told Us that Rourke “speaks from his heart and means well. He is old school, direct and honest. I have worked closely with him for nine years and he is 100 percent authentically himself. There will never be another Mickey Rourke. Period.”
