The launch of Celebrity Big Brother 2025 pulled in the lowest launch show ratings in the show’s history, and fans have spotted one key issue with the lacklustre figures.
The iconic reality show kicked off its new series on Monday night, with Hollywood stars Mickey Rourke and Jojo Siwa joining names including Trisha Goddard and Chesney Hawkes in the famous house.
While Mickey immediately made headlines upon his arrival for his ‘creepy’ behaviour towards host AJ Odudu, it struggled to translate to a huge ratings boost.
Overnight figures showed that the series pulled in a peak of 2.1 million viewers, with an overall average of 1.8 million.
This was down on last year’s peak of 3.2 million viewers, when the series returned for its first celebrity incarnation since 2018.
However, the show pulled in the highest 16-34 audience of the night, more than all four competitor channels combined.
The launch of Celebrity Big Brother 2025 pulled in the lowest launch show ratings in the show’s history, and fans have spotted one key issue with the lacklustre figures
While this number was down on the previous year, fans have taken to X to note one key issue with the figures.
They noted that Celebrity Big Brother typically has a younger audience, and many of them likely watched the launch on ITVX.
This year, the CBB launch was also streamed live on YouTube, and neither of these viewing figures would have been included in the overnight ratings.
Posts included: ‘But is this including those who watched on ITVX and YouTube because aren’t those separate;
‘Let’s everyone remember that #CBBUK skews to a younger demographic that are more likely to watch on ITVX which isn’t counted in this number.
‘It’s not the disaster some people paint it out to be.’
‘It’s not brilliant. It did win the 9pm slot though;’
‘Overnight ratings aren’t really worth much these days tbh. But even so, launching on a Monday night was always gonna be interesting for the figures. Be more interesting to see once ITVX is added. A shame, because this was so much better than last years!’
While housemate Mickey Rourke immediately made headlines upon his arrival for his ‘creepy’ behaviour towards host AJ Odudu , it struggled to translate to a huge ratings boost
However, some fans took to X to note that the overnight figures do not include those who streamed the episode on ITVX
‘I’m assuming that the 1.8m doesn’t account for ITVX viewers which is actually pretty decent. Most people I know personally don’t watch through their actual TV and I don’t even own one. Expecting it’ll jump drastically over the 7-day viewings.’
Celebrity Big Brother viewers have also slammed Mickey’s ‘creepy’ behaviour’ on the show’s launch episode.
Within minutes of his arrival, the Hollywood actor was seen leering at the ITV show’s host AJ Odudu. After being introduced to AJ by her co-host Will Best, Mickey approached her on stage, grabbing her around the waist and spinning her in a circle.
A shocked AJ gasped as Mickey then pulled her in close, exclaiming: ‘You’re very flirtatious’ as the US star continued to hold onto her waist.
The presenter looked more and more uncomfortable but kept her professional composure as she told the actor to ‘stop looking at me’. She then turned him around by his shoulders and directed him to the door, with the actor heard saying: ‘No, I want to stay with you.’
It was at this point that AJ’s co-host Will Best stepped in, pulling AJ back from Mickey who had grabbed her by the arm. ‘Don’t take AJ with you!’ he shouted after the actor.
Viewers shared their shock at the interraction with Will Njobvu on TikTok blasting Mickey as ‘disrespecful’ whilst lukeelkinstv captioned a clip with the words: ‘disgusting get him out’.
Others such as @Sophsingsandthings posted their real-time reactions to the star’s entrance.
The TikToker said that after a positive first impression, she decided he was ‘cringey and creepy.’
Celebrity Big Brother viewers slammed Mickey’s ‘creepy’ behaviour’ on the show’s launch episode, after he was seen leering at the show’s host AJ Odudu
Fans also took to X, formerly Twitter, to say: ‘Scared for all the women in that house now with how Mickey was with AJ on live television mind you,’;
‘I needed a scandal this season and i believe mickey rourke will provide it,’; ‘Oh dear. Not a fan of Mickey already after that entrance.’
‘Everyone’s joking about Mickey Rouke and I get why, but I want to be serious for a second.
‘No female TV presenter should be made to feel like AJ just did. He shouldn’t have been allowed on this show if he can’t control himself around women. I hated that ngl,’;
‘There’s surely no way Mickey Rourke doesn’t either walk or get booted out for being inappropriate.’
Celebrity Big Brother continues on Tuesday at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
CELEBRITY BIG BROTHER 2025: MEET THE LINEUP!
MICKEY ROURKE
AGE: 72
FAMOUS FOR: The actor and former pro boxer is one of the show’s biggest ever signings and after public feuds with Robert De Niro, two marriages and a string of high profile relationships, producers will be hoping he brings plenty of drama.
DALEY THOMPSON
AGE: 66
FAMOUS FOR: The double Olympic gold-medallist is considered one of Britain’s greatest athletes, and he would no doubt cause a stir with younger celebrities if he entered the house. He broke the decathlon world record four times.
PATSY PALMER
AGE: 52
FAMOUS FOR: It’s an open secret that Patsy is leaving EastEnders, with the actress enjoying a wild leaving party this month. The Bianca Jackson star posted a snap of her character on Instagram with the caption: ‘Bye bye B, always grateful to see her again.’
DONNA PRESTON
AGE: 38
FAMOUS FOR: While Donna has featured in several TV shows and movies, the comedy star is known for hosting Apocalypse and for the role of a circus Compere in 2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald. She plays Den in Coronation Street, has featured in Pants On Fire in 2019 and even wrote and co-produced BBC Three’s Comedy Threesomes.
CHESNEY HAWKES
AGE: 53
FAMOUS FOR: The singer topped the charts for five weeks in 1991 with his hit The One And Only, before making a string of acting and TV appearances. His arrival on CBB has been described by a TV source as ‘perfect timing’, as he’s set to release a comeback album in April.
ANGELLICA BELL
AGE: 49
FAMOUS FOR: The TV presenter is said to have landed a staggering five-figure deal to appear on Celebrity Big Brother. Fans will be keen to see if the CBBC legend spills all on her untimely exit from The Martin Lewis Show – which left fans baffled back in 2023. Angellica currently co-presents Hits Radio while Fleur East is on maternity leave.
DANNY BEARD
AGE: 32
FAMOUS FOR: The RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner – whose real name is Daniel Curtis – has signed up as a late entry. Danny previously made headlines after swearing on Big Brother’s Late & Live last March whilst doing an impression of housemate Louis Walsh. The incident saw the guest say the word ‘c***’ before immediately apologising after being informed they weren’t allowed to say that on the show.
CHRIS HUGHES
AGE: 32
FAMOUS FOR: After shooting to fame on Love Island in 2017, Chris went on to become a sports presenter and regularly hosts the horse racing coverage on ITV.
JOJO SIWA
AGE: 21
FAMOUS FOR: The American singer, who shot to stardom on reality show Dance Moms, is expected to draw a big American audience. The hitmaker has made a name for herself in the U.S. pop charts and is known for her outlandish looks and being a vocal member of the LGBTQ+ community.
TRISHA GODDARD
AGE: 67
FAMOUS FOR: The talk show host regularly presented on ITV from 1998 to 2004 and then shifted to Channel 5 from 2004 to 2010. Trisha has been suffering horrible side effects of her chemotherapy – but has bravely battled on.
JACK P. SHEPHERD
AGE: 37
FAMOUS FOR: The actor has played David Platt in Corrie since 2000 and is following in his pal Colson Smith’s footsteps by taking part in the popular reality show. He has won a string of awards for the role including Best Actor at the British Soap Awards.
ELLA RAE WISE
AGE: 24
FAMOUS FOR: Producers have been keen to land the TV personality, who previously dated Pete Wicks and has had an on-off romance with Dan Edgar. Bosses are hoping the TOWIE star might reveal all about some of her other famous exes.
MICHAEL FABRICANT
AGE: 74
FAMOUS FOR: The former Conservative politician is understood to have signed a lucrative six-figure deal to take part after political stars were banned from the broadcaster’s other reality show, I’m A Celeb. He served as MP for Lichfield in Staffordshire from 1992 until his defeat in 2024 as well as vice-chairman of the party under David Cameron. But he is perhaps best known for his blond mop for which he has been widely ridiculed but repeatedly denies is a wig.
