She’s the Essex-born mother of three who has proved one of the most controversial Big Brother contestants in recent years.
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who → ’ → years
Her comments about trans rights, feminism and racism have seen Rochelle Rackham, 57, cause quite the stir among housemates – and viewers.
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Rackham → see → housemates
One heated clash between her and co-star Johanne Cade prompted 493 Ofcom complaints from fans who accused Rackham of racism and bullying.
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who → prompt → racism
Now, in a development that has raised serious questions about ITV’s vetting process for contestants, the Daily Mail can reveal that Rochelle shared a racist social media post 11 years ago, when she was working as an unknown nail technician.
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she → raise → technician
The disgraceful message, which may shock Big Brother fans, features an image of a person bungee jumping, overlaid with the words: ‘Experience bungee jumping only £35 a jump.
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person → shock → jumping
Muslims go free.
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Muslims → go → ?
No strings attached.’
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strings → attach → ?
Rochelle captioned the reshare: ‘Love this’ as well as tagging friends she thought would ‘appreciate’ the offensive joke and added: ‘Lol.’
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she → caption → Lol
In a bizarre twist, actress Laila Rouass, star of drama series Footballers' Wives and wife of snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan, saw the post at the time because Rochelle was her nail technician.
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Rochelle → see → time
Appalled that she had reposted the racist image, Laila took to Facebook.
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Laila → appal → Facebook
‘Wow someone just posted this, am I the only one that’s offended?’ wrote Laila, alongside an image of Rochelle’s repost.
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Laila → post → repost
She immediately distanced herself from Rochelle.
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She → distance → Rochelle
A source told me: ‘After Rochelle’s comments on the show already, this barely comes as a surprise.
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this → tell → surprise
But it’s shocking this wasn’t picked up and that she was allowed a platform and to go on the show.
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she → ’ → show
Rochelle Rackham's heated debate with fellow housemate Johanne Cade prompted 493 Ofcom complaints from fans who accused Rackham of racism and bullying
It calls into question ITV's vetting process now it's emerged Rochelle shared a racist Facebook post 11 years ago
Rochelle’s historic post is likely to cause ITV bosses a headache as the 23rd series of the reality series enters its final few weeks.
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series → prompt → weeks
For this is only the latest controversy involving Rochelle, who has faced criticism for several comments during her time in the house.
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who → involve → house
In a single week, the series attracted 1,654 Ofcom complaints after being rocked by a string of explosive rows, most of which included Rochelle.
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most → attract → Rochelle
She was previously criticised after telling Charlotte Nott, 18, a quadruple amputee from Oxford, that she had ‘a bit of a fear’ of people with ‘no arms’.
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she → criticise → arms
Rochelle has also faced backlash over comments about fellow contestant Millie Jarrett’s weight.
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Rochelle → face → weight
More recently, she upset trans activists by expressing her views on women’s rights, healthcare and transgender people, telling housemates: ‘I wouldn’t be happy with a transgender in the toilet with me.’
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I → upset → me
However, the most controversial moment came during a conversation about microaggressions between Johanne and Pauline Adeyemo, overheard by Rochelle.
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moment → come → Rochelle
The two were discussing their shared experiences as black women and a disagreement they’d had earlier in the series with Rochelle about cooking dinner.
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they → discuss → dinner
Johanne said: ‘My situation with Rochelle felt like a microaggression because I feel like if anybody else was over there heating up their food… would [Rochelle] have reacted like that?
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Rochelle → say → that
‘And that’s how you can really decipher a microaggression a lot of times – if you just put anybody there that looks like that person, would their behaviour still be the same?’
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behaviour → ’ → person
Rochelle, who heard the comment, proceeded to engage Johanne in a heated argument until Big Brother intervened and called Johanne to the Diary Room.
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Brother → hear → Room
All of which raises the question: was Rochelle a suitable candidate and did ITV overlook her racist social media repost when casting her for the show?
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ITV → raise → show
In 2023, the channel published an updated ‘welfare package’ for Big Brother contestants, stating: ‘Housemates undergo a series of background checks including checks of their social media by an independent specialised service.
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Housemates → publish → service
But it wouldn’t be the first time such checks have fallen short.
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checks → fall → ?
Within months of the guidance being published, it emerged that Big Brother housemate Trish Balusa had used racist and homophobic language in previous tweets.
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Balusa → publish → tweets
She was forced to apologise, saying: ‘There are no excuses for the ignorance that I have showed.’
It remains to be seen whether Rochelle will show similar contrition.
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Rochelle → force → contrition
ITV were approached for comment.
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ITV → approach → comment
From phone screens to the big screen
Chiara King is set to star in The Influencer Project – a horror film that explores the dark side of internet fame
British beauty and lifestyle influencer Chiara King makes her feature film acting debut this week with a chilling semi-autobiographical horror movie, The Influencer Project, inspired by her own real-life experience with a stalker.
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King → set → stalker
However, this latest project takes things in a much darker direction.
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project → take → direction
Blurring the lines between real life and fiction, I’m told the film explores the darker side of online fame and the frightening realities that can come with living life in the spotlight.
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that → blur → spotlight
This is one of the first times I’ve seen an influencer make the leap from social media to the big screen.
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influencer → see → screen
So if you’re looking for a horror with a real-life edge, The Influencer Project is one to add to your watchlist, out in cinemas on Friday.
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Project → look → Friday
This week it's been reported that the latest venue to crack down on the menace of influencers staging photoshoots is Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes, France.
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venue → report → Antibes
But it’s not the first and most certainly won’t be the last.
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it → ’ → ?
Molly-Mae’s beloved Cheshire farm shop, Hollies, has done the same, while London’s Borough Market has also tightened its photography policies.
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Market → do → policies
Earlier this year, restaurateur Jeremy King, co-founder of The Wolseley and The Ivy, brought in extra security and banned unapproved filming after his restaurants were overrun with influencers.
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restaurants → bring → influencers
…and 20 more, not listed.
The Aporia
