From John McCririck to Speidi: The top 10 worst 'Celebrity Big Brother' contestants of all time

In the 21 series of Celebrity Big Brother that have aired so far, there have been some true shockers of contestants.

So many famous housemates have shown their worst side that it’s difficult to narrow it down to just 10 – special mentions should also go to the unsavoury Jeremy McConnell, the shouty Nicola McLean and the obscene Perez Hilton.

But standing head and shoulders above the rest are this motley crew of CBB alumni who will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

John McCririck

Remember way back when in the third series of Celebrity Big Brother we all thought John McCririck was simply an eccentric racing pundit?

To be fair to John, he did introduce himself on the show as a deeply unpleasant person, and then set about proving himself right.

Viewers were shocked by his sexism, particularly in relation to his wife who he revealed that he had nicknamed Booby.

But when he stripped to the waist and threw a wobbly about having lost his Diet Coke privileges, it was a sobering reminder that some things just can’t be unseen.

Christopher Biggins

Who would have thought that former I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! winner Biggins would become one of the show’s most reviled contestants?

He went from a nation’s sweetheart to one of those on the shamed list of housemates who have been removed for their terrible behaviour when he took part in 2016.

Biggins’ crimes included making insulting remarks about bisexual people, and offensive comments to Jewish housemate Katie Waissel.

Ken Morley

Another ex-contestant who proved that sometimes, it’s best to stay out of the limelight and leave the public with their formerly good impression of you was Ken Morley.

The year before Biggins was removed from the house, the same fate befell the former Coronation Street star famous for playing Reg Holdsworth.

Ken had repeatedly used racist and sexist language, upsetting a number of housemates, leaving the CBB bosses with no choice but to evict him early.

Trying to defend himself on Loose Women, Ken protested: “It was banter in an odd situation but I understand entirely that it upsets a lot of people all over the world, and I apologise for upsetting you and I hope you accept. I am not a racist.”

Kim Woodburn

How Clean is Your House? star Kim Woodburn proved that the only squeaky clean thing about her was her house in her appearance on series 19.

She was a late addition to the house, but it took all of about five minutes before Kim managed to take on most of the other contestants in arguments that were wide-ranging and long-running.

Granted, many of her co-stars were fairly unpleasant too, but Kim’s temper was something to be reckoned with and we’re guessing that Nicola McLean, the main target of her tongue lashings, would be happy never to be in a room with her again.

James Jordan

No one expected ex-Strictly Come Dancing professional James Jordan to be the mother hen of the house – it’s probable that he was recruited precisely because he is famous for not holding back with his opinions.

The dancer made everyone uncomfortable by repeatedly picking fights with boxing promoter Kellie Maloney and was almost universally unpopular with his housemates – and, we’d imagine, with any former Strictly co-stars who tuned in to him calling them “beige”.

However, James’ outspoken appearance did make him popular with producers, who invited him back for 2017’s All Stars vs New Stars series.

John Partridge

Actor John Partridge was a favourite with EastEnders fans during his many years on Albert Square, so it was difficult to reconcile the man we though we knew with the pantomime villain who was booed on his exit.

John pretended to be good mates with his co-stars in CBB, but put a lot of effort into playing them off against each other and even nominated his supposed best pal Darren Day for eviction. Darren was particularly angry because he felt that John had called his commitment to sobriety into question.

When he left the house, John said: “It’s great to be a villain. I thought I’d just play into it. Trust me, I’m no hero.”

Jade Goody, Jo O’Meara and Danielle Lloyd

It’s impossible to separate this trio into which was the worst housemate, as they formed a bullying group who made Indian actress Shilpa Shetty’s life in the house hell.

The late reality star Jade, former S Club 7 singer Jo and Wag Danielle became some of the show’s best-remembered contestants for the worst reasons as they waged a racist campaign against Shilpa, both to her face and behind her back.

Scenes of the trio’s bullying were so upsetting that they sparked 44,500 Ofcom complaints and were responsible for the show being cancelled the following year, whilst Shilpa went on to win the series.

Jeremy Jackson

Male housemates behaving in a threatening way towards their female co-stars has been a depressingly familiar sight in Celebrity Big Brother.

One of the worst offenders was Jeremy Jackson, appearing in the 2015 series alongside Perez Hilton who also made lewd threats to some of the women in the house.

Jeremy was booted from the show when he pulled open Chloe Goodman’s dressing gown and received a formal police caution for his behaviour.

Speidi

Husband and wife team Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag are some of the privileged few to have appeared twice in CBB, in 2013 and again as part of the All Stars intake in 2017.

They are notoriously slippery customers who love nothing more than to stir up a reality show argument, and have laid into the likes of James Cosmo, Nicola McLean and Rylan Clark Neal during their stints on the programme.

It was their status as a contestant duo that really seemed to put people’s backs up, as the couple schemed in secret on how to get ahead whilst proving near impossible for their housemates to get to know them.

Farrah Abraham

Teen Mom star Farrah Abraham was one of the most controversial contestants ever to arrive on the series as she screeched her way around the house from day one.

Farrah had a particular dislike for Atomic Kitten singer Natasha Hamilton and the pair clashed over just about everything, with rows escalating to epic proportions.

One of the US star’s lowest points was when she told Big Brother: “I’m going to straight up kill this whole f****** house.”

When she was eventually evicted, Farrah caused further chaos on spin-off show Celebrity Big Brother’s Bit on the Side, where she and Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace threw drinks at each other.

Celebrity Big Brother series 22 begins on Thursday, August 16 at 9pm on Channel 5.

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