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Celebrity Big Brother finalist Frankie Grande addresses accusations show is scripted after 'leaked' video
'It was definitely a real TV programme, but again - it’s a TV programme'
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Your support makes all the difference.Frankie Grande has addressed suggestions Celebrity Big Brother is scripted after a video emerged of housemates being advised on what to do the following day.
Grande was the first to be evicted from the house during the final on Friday evening, leaving the reality TV show in sixth place. The YouTuber, Broadway star and StyleCode Live host also completed an 88-day stint on the US version.
Ahead of the final, live feed viewers accused the show of being scripted when finalist Ricky Norwood congratulated housemates on a “great take” after lights came on and Big Brother began speaking to housemates shortly after they had all said goodnight and gone to bed.
When asked what he would say to viewers feeling concerned Big Brother was scripted, Grande told the Independent: “Well, I mean, Big Brother is a show that is based in reality. I haven’t seen what you guys are talking about so I can’t really answer that specifically.
"It was definitely a real TV programme, but again - it’s a TV programme.”
He denied housemates would receive instructions on what to do. “It was an amazing experience, but no... it’s not like we were told to do things. It’s a reality TV show so, you know, they would show you where you have to sit in certain places and do certain things like that, you know, but it’s not like the dramas are created. They are all real - believe me. All of the situations that you see in the house are real.
“[They would say], like, ‘go to the couches, sit down, we’re taking shots of you now for the live show - it’s a TV show, and it’s a game.”
Responding to the video of housemates going to bed, a representative for Big Brother said: ”Footage shown on the live feed involved Big Brother alerting housemates of a long final day ahead. The show is entirely authentic and the housemates are not scripted.“
Grande said his craziest moment was when fellow housemate Stephen Bear threw a cup, shattering it, in an incident he said affected him “very deeply and emotionally” because it evoked feelings he experienced after the deadly shooting at a nightclub in Orlando.
“It brought up a lot of anxiety about all of the violence that has been going on in America. I had just left America right after the Orlando shootings. I had to get over that - it was not something that was just brushed under the carpet. I had to dig deep and find the light inside me in order to move forward from that moment.
“Seeing that shattered glass - it looked like bullet holes in a piece of glass, and everything that I had been holding in within me just came pouring out. All of this stuff I’ve been holding inside about being a gay man and being afraid to walk the streets of New York City - it all just bubbled up to a culmination in that one moment when I saw that broken glass.”
Grande said he and Norwood will have a long friendship after the show, while Lewis Bloor would be the housemate he is least concerned about speaking to again. “Every time I talk to Lewis all he did was just talk about himself. I mean, every conversation I have with him, involves him, talking about him.”
Grande is the brother of singer Ariana Grande, who has shared her support for her brother throughout his 30-day stint on the show and urged fans in the UK to vote for him.
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