Alexander O’Neal "couldn’t stand" to be in the ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ house any longer.
The ‘Criticise’ hitmaker left the reality show house this weekend following a number of altercations with gossip blogger Perez Hilton and it’s been reported he was afraid of how he might "react" if he was forced to continue living with the controversial star.
A source shared: "Alex is a man with morals and principles.
"He is fair and will give everyone he meets a chance, but he just can’t tolerate disrespect in any form.
"Perez was taunting him. He was baiting him and trying to get a reaction so he would be chucked out.
"By the end he was following him everywhere like a shadow.
"If someone behaved like that outside the house, especially when Alex was younger, they would have settled it man to man. It was getting to the stage where Alex was going to react."
The 61-year-old star – who was given a formal warning by Big Brother after using a homophobic slur in conversation with Perez – is believed to have been worried about his behaviour if the 36-year-old father-of-one continued to taunt him.
The source added to The Sun newspaper: "Alex knew he let himself down when he called Perez a f****t and he wasn’t prepared to let himself down again, so he took the decision to leave.
"He doesn’t need the exposure and he can live without the money. On top of that he was missing his wife. He couldn’t stand to be in there any longer and he did the only thing he could, he walked. It was the best thing for everyone."
Alex is the third housemate to leave the Channel 5 show without being evicted after former ‘Coronation Street’ actor Ken Morley and ‘Baywatch’ star Jeremy Jackson were both removed following unacceptable behaviour.
Alexander O’Neal ‘couldn’t stand’ being on Celebrity Big Brother
