Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Celebrity Big Brother is the most complained about TV show of 2016 thanks to Christopher Biggins

A popular UK soap came in second place

Jacob Stolworthy
Saturday 24 December 2016 13:05 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The most complained about TV show of 2016 may not surprise you.

This year's series of Celebrity Big Brother has topped the Ofcom list with 3,643 following a controversial run which saw housemate Christopher Biggins make a homophobic slur against bisexuals as well as a ludicrous remark about Nazi gas chambers; he was consequently removed from the house.

The comment was so controversial, Channel 5 bosses refused to air it.

Other actions that generated complaints were Stephen Bear and Chloe Khan's raunchy lap dances and showers.

Celebrity Big Brother 2016: How many can you recognise?

Coming in second place was ITV soap Coronation Street which racked up 1,141 complaints, most of which came courtesy of a line of dialogue from character Eva price (Catherine Tyldesley); visiting Audrey's hair salon, she could be heard saying: "I have more roots than Kunta Kinte" which led to claims of racism from viewers.

The normal run of Big Brother (864) came in third while ITV's other soap Emmerdale (815) rounded out the top four.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in