Big Brother housemate Sarah Griffiths was given a stern warning in tonight’s episode after making a ‘joke’ with racist connotations.
The 27-year-old spa accounts manager from Shropshire was called into the Diary Room in the early hours after comments she made as a play on the political slogan ‘Stop the boats.’
In a previous shopping task, Sarah, a white woman, described fellow housemate Hanah Haji, who is Black, as ‘gloaty.’
She also made a chant of ‘Stop the gloats!’, a spin on former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s ‘Stop the boats’ campaign, which saw him vow to ‘swiftly remove’ anyone who enters the country illegally by implementing a new law.
After informing 24-year-old HR consultant Hanah of her remarks, and seemingly seeing no issue in them, despite acknowledging that they were ‘not politically correct’, Sarah was reprimanded.
‘Sarah, Big Brother wants to talk to you about language you have been using in the house,’ the voice of Big Brother began, as Sarah sat with a puzzled expression on her face.
‘Hanah, Khaled, and Emma had been aware that you previously used the term “gloaty” about Hanah. This was referring to a conversation you had with Emma where you described Hanah as gloaty in a reference to Marcello becoming the Head of House.
‘On a separate occasion prior to this, during the Vampires and Villagers task, together with Nathan, you chanted, “Stop the gloats”, which you confirmed was a reference to the political phrase, “Stop the boats”.’
Sarah, who once admitted to voting UKIP, responded: ‘For me, it was just funny because it rhymed, and I don’t really talk about politics that often because it’s not something I’m interested in, but it was a joke.
‘It had no racial connotations, I have no connotations about boats or immigration, or anything like that. It was just making funny of political slogans.’
Sarah also noted that the phrase was especially poignant to her as fellow housemate Nathan is very vocal with his political opinions, having expressed his desire for Nigel Farage to be PM.
Big Brother proceeded to provide context, explaining that Sarah used the chant when trying to stop Vampires Ali, Khaled, Thomas, Segun, Dean, and Emma from entering the living room, which, as a Villager, was one of Sarah’s instructions during that shopping task.
‘When Hanah questioned you about you calling her gloaty, you referred to the “Stop the gloats” chant you had created with Nathan during the earlier task,’ Big Brother told her.
‘Your use of language around this political reference has had an impact on your fellow housemates.
‘As you know, the Big Brother house is made up of people from all walks of life with different life experiences.’
Visibly confused by the telling off, Sarah replied: ‘Sorry, I’m not disagreeing with you, there is lots of walks of life, but I did not mean that with anything towards immigration or racial intent.
‘For me, it was just a funny wordplay.’
When asked if there was anything she would like to say, Sarah said: ‘I’d like to say that if I’ve offended anybody by making that kind of joke, I am genuinely 100% remorseful.
‘That is down to my own stupidity and selfishness, me making a joke with wordplay and being like, “Haha! Good joke!” and not thinking about how that would affect other people.’
‘People’s feelings are totally valid, and if they are offended by that, I am so sorry. I have no malice in my heart against anyone,’ she added.
The voice of BB then stated: ‘Sarah, Big Brother cannot permit language that is likely to be considered offensive by housemates or the viewing public.’
Confirming that she understood, Sarah responded: ‘Yes, very, very much so.’
The episode then came to an end, and viewers were left not knowing whether Sarah would be punished further.
Earlier in the episode, viewers saw Hanah confide in Segun Shodipo who, upon learning of her comments, said: ‘I don’t know how I feel about that one. I don’t like that.’
Hanah later entered the Diary Room alone, telling Big Brother of Sarah’s not-so-PC joke: ‘I don’t think that’s funny, if I’m being honest with you.
‘I studied international politics; I graduated with 2:1, babes. I’m not stupid.’
Fans of the show also expressed their feelings, writing on X that Sarah ought to be ‘removed’ from the house.
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