India Willoughby caused tensions in the ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ house after claiming the men in the house would rather flirt with a gay man than a transgender woman.
The 51-year-old newsreader – who was Britain’s first transgender television newsreader – caused yet another rift between her fellow celebrities on the Channel 5 reality show on Wednesday (10.01.18), after she claimed the straight men in the house preferred to flirt with drag queen Shane Jenek instead of with her.
She said: "[The men would] feel more comfortable flirting with Shane because he’s a gay guy."
Shane then quipped: "It’s also because of my demeanour. Not just because I’m a gay guy."
In response, India – who is currently up for eviction – hit out at the LGBT movement, as she insisted the community has added "confusion" to her life and made her feel "drowned out".
She said: "I think this is part of the problem being hitched to LGB. It’s the confusion element. I do feel that women like me have, sort of, been drowned out by the LGBT narrative that’s been going on."
Shane – who is best known for his drag queen alter-ego Courtney Act – disagreed with India’s comments, claiming she wouldn’t be where she was without the help of the LGBT community.
He argued: "The LGBT has allowed you to be here to have this voice. The trans people were such a small part, one to three percent. And by lobbying, essentially, with the L, G and the B, and from 1969 to now, we now have an environment [where you] can be a news reader."
That wasn’t the only bold claims made by India in the episode either, as she shocked her fellow housemates when she revealed she had been abducted by aliens, and was even able to provide proof.
She said: "I was abducted by aliens, seriously."
The revelation didn’t impress former Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe, though, who shut down the idea before giving India a chance to explain herself in more detail.
Ann said: "You were not abducted by aliens. You’ve got a very cynical audience, but tell us."
India then continued: "I went to bed and I had this dream that I had actually been abducted, taken away, all sorts going on.
"And then the next day I woke up and these have never been explained – my mum spotted them – I have scars on my back.
"I’d never had them before. Nobody has ever explained them. They’re like lines."
Fellow housemates Rachel Johnson and Malika Haqq seemed unconvinced by the claims, but India insisted martians were the "only explanation" for the mysterious marks on her back.
India Willoughby slams LGBT community in Celebrity Big Brother rant
