Featured Image Credit: Channel 5
Topics: Big Brother, TV and Film, UK News, Celebrity Big Brother, David Bowie
Olivia Burke
Topics: Big Brother, TV and Film, UK News, Celebrity Big Brother, David Bowie
When legendary musician David Bowie passed away in 2016, he unknowingly triggered a chain of events that would go down in history as reality TV gold.
While most former spouses would find out this kind of news in the comfort of their own home, poor Angie Bowie instead found out while starring on the 17th season of Celebrity Big Brother.
I'm sure the subsequent fallout which followed that chat in the Diary Room is firmly engrained in your memory, but here's a quick reminder for those who need a refresher:
On 10 January, 2016, Bowie lost his battle with liver cancer and died, while his ex-wife was among the famous faces cooped up in the Big Brother house - along with the likes of Gemma Collins, Scotty T and Danniella Westbrook for company.
Producers decided to tell Angie - who had been married to the late and great musician for a decade - about the tragic loss and she was left in complete shock.
Advert
She decided to subtly try to explain her sadness to fellow contestant Tiffany Pollard, and so whispered the words: "David’s dead."
At the same time, housemate and producer David Gest was resting in bed after feeling unwell - so Tiffany put two and two together and assumed the worst.
She refused to keep the news hush hush like Angie had asked and ran to the rest of the housemates, saying: "I can’t keep it a secret, she told me not to tell anybody. He told me something and I have to say it. I’m not able to not say anything."
Queue a crowd of celebs rushing into the bedroom to peel back David's duvet, only to find that he was alive, albeit a little unwell - while Angie then explained it was a case of mistaken identity, exclaiming: "David... My ex-husband!"
Advert
Even Big Brother narrator Marcus Bentley confessed that he thought the moment was fake.
And believe it or not, the night continued to get even more ridiculous, according to former CBB contestants Christopher Maloney and Darren Day.
The pair dished the dirt on the epic moment, as well as the chaos that enveloped the house later that day.
Former X Factor star Christopher explained he had been kipping in the bed next to David - who did sadly ended up passing away a few months later after a stroke - during his time on CBB.
He told GQ: "It was weird with the 'David’s dead' situation because David had so much surgery on his eyes that he couldn’t actually close his eyes.
Advert
"He used to sleep next to me and put ointment in his eyes so he didn't get any infections because he couldn’t close them.
"So when me and Darren had to check that he was alive, we said 'David, are you dead?'. But because he slept with his eyes open, he just sat up and said [puts on an American accent] 'No, I’m alive'."
Darren explained that Gest had just undergone his third face-lift and had shared fears with his housemates that the surgeons had 'pulled it too tight' - which resulted in him being unable to close his eyes.
He said: "So when I pulled the sheets back, his eyes were open. It looked like he was dead. And that was it. It was awful. "There was much relief when he was still there, and alive. It was a mad moment."
Advert
Christopher said that 'the sh*t hit the fan then' as the stars battled to calm Tiffany down while comforting Angie - but more mayhem was set to erupt.
He added: "They didn’t show half of what happened afterwards, because we were [then] shocked that David Bowie had passed away.
"And they didn’t show the bit where John Partridge made us all steak [for dinner that night].
"Scotty T – who went on to win the show – he was getting red in the face and then purple and then blue.
"The steak had gotten stuck in his throat and he was choking on it. John had to do the Heimlich manoeuvre and the steak flew out of his mouth and then the medics took him away.
Advert
"So he nearly died as well."
What an absolute nightmare.