Big Brother’s Zelah and Caroline speak for first time after formal warning over misgendering

Big Brother housemates Zelah and Caroline have spoken for the first time following Caroline misgendering Zelah during a game of spin the bottle.

In last night’s episode (7 October) of ITV’s famed social experiment-cum-reality series, PR worker Caroline asked personal trainer Zelah, who is a trans man, what he would if he “had a c**k”.

“Helicopter,” Zelah replied, laughing but evidently a little uncomfortable.

Caroline then asked housemate and graduate Nancy who in the house she would “shag” if she needed to procreate to save civilisation.

Nancy asked whether she had to choose a guy in the house, with makeup artist Jenny clarifying to Caroline that Nancy is pansexual.

“Is she pansexual? You like pans?” Caroline asked.

When Nancy stated that she is most attracted to Zelah, Caroline then said: “She’s a girl!”

Turning to Zelah, Caroline attempted to backtrack: “Oh no, you’re not. Well, you haven’t got a willy, have you.”

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A visibly upset Zelah left the living room and headed for the diary room, while his fellow housemates insisted that an apologetic Caroline not try and rectify the situation that evening.

Caroline was then called to the diary room where her comments were repeated by Big Brother, and she was issued a formal warning. Online, Caroline was widely condemned for her remarks, while all of her housemates made no bones about telling her how “bad” her comments were.

In an episode of Big Brother’s companion show Late & Live, which aired directly after Big Brother last night, it was exclusively revealed that Zelah and Caroline have now spoken since the incident.

In the clip shown, Zelah and Caroline appear together in the house’s ‘snug’ in the garden, with Caroline profusely apologising.

“I’ve never felt as bad ever in my life as what I did that night. I kept saying, please let it not be true. I just wanted to go back ten minutes,” she said in the clip.

“Why did it come out of my mouth? I’ve got no excuse. I know what I said was wrong. Terribly wrong. But hurting you is what’s really hurting me.”

Zelah, who has been praised for the “graceful” way he has fielded disclosing his gender identity to his housemates – and is one of the public’s favourite housemates according to betting odds – maturely accepted Caroline’s apology.

“I don’t want you to walk away from this thinking you’re not allowed to get things wrong. Because you are. You’re allowed to get things wrong,” he assured her.

“In situations like that obviously yeah, you might need to take a step back because obviously people’s feelings exist. But I think, minus last night, you’ve been doing a lot of learning in here, so have I. I’ve done a s**t ton of learning in here.”

“I do understand and you know…” Zelah continued, before being interrupted by Caroline who reminded him he is “Johnny Depp to [her]”.

Caroline has previously commented on the resemblance between Zelah and the contentious Pirates of the Caribbean actor.

The pair appeared to resolve the issue with a cuddle and one final apology from Caroline, who said: “I’m so sorry. I’ve never been as sorry for anything in my life ever.”

Caroline is the second housemate to be given a warning by Big Brother, with the first also being related to offensive actions around LGBTQ+ housemates.

Earlier this week, divisive housemate George was given a warning for making queer zumba instructor and musician Sam cry, after he mocked the way Sam acts and speaks. The incident also took place during a game of spin the bottle.

However, George didn’t quite seem remorseful for his actions, telling Big Brother that he would “walk on eggshells” around Sam from then on out, and later nominated Sam for eviction over the altercation.

Big Brother continues Sunday to Friday at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.

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