Up Next
Louis Walsh has come under fire after leaving Celebrity Big Brother viewers uncomfortable with his antics around Oti Mabuse.
The former X Factor judge, 71, finished in fourth place in this year’s CBB final, following an extremely divisive, opinionated stint in the famous ITV compound.
From sharing lots of showbiz talk with Sharon Osbourne to criticizing former clients like Jedward and Ronan Keating, Louis’s time on the show made plenty of headlines.
But it seems that wasn’t the end, as the Irish music manager raised eyebrows when he tapped Strictly Come Dancing’s Oti on the backside in a post-final celebration.
After David Potts was crowned the series winner, the housemates all reunited on spin-off show Late & Live for interviews and games.
At one point, jokey awards were handed out to the cast, with Louis earning himself the ‘best dancer’ trophy thanks to his questionable twerking.
Accepting his award at the pink podium, Louis said: ‘Listen, I’m not really a great dancer, but I went for the fun and we had a great twerk, and I want to thank everyone who helped me.
‘I had a brilliant time on the series – most days!’
Oti then requested to see Louis’s twerking ‘one more time’, starting the movement herself before Louis joined her.
‘Only with you,’ he told her, and began shaking his derrière up against Oti’s.
Before getting down off the stage, Louis gave a couple of taps to Oti’s behind while she laughed and the audience cheered.
‘Well, well, well, that was amazing. Incredible,’ host AJ Odudu said as Louis returned to his seat.
The bum slapping was totally brushed over by everyone and Oti appeared to remain in high spirits, however, it didn’t take long for the clip to spread like wildfire on social media.
Sharing the video on X, a user named chloe_craw_ branded Louis a ‘creepy man’, urging people to ‘stop making excuses for people like him.’
‘If he thinks this is okay on live tv how is he behaving in private?’, she asked.
When another user in the replies suggested Oti ‘didn’t even care’, Chloe wrote back: ‘i would just like to ask if you’ve spoken to oti personally, how do you know “she didn’t even care”? when i’ve been touched inappropriately in public i’ve just laughed it off and carried even though it makes me feel extremely uncomfortable, you don’t know how it made her feel.’
‘Not Louis making it through the entire series without being cancelled only to smack Oti’s bum on the final late and live’, chimed in lxambyrne.
MissProdger said: ‘Not Louis patting Oti on the behind. I don’t like.’
‘Ugh, Louis being handsy with Oti there, it’s not 1974 mate’, penned DoctorWarmflash.
‘I wonder how Oti Mabuse feels about Louis Walsh tapping her on the backside?’, wondered BlondeMzungu, to which cazza1982baby replied: ‘He’s horrible!!! Has no respect for women at all.’
Others supported Louis, suggesting that viewers being upset was a ‘stretch’.
Even though, the clip brought back memories for many in the form of an infamous Mel B moment.
During his X Factor days, Louis touched the Spice Girls star on her bum during a live TV interview, with the video reappearing after news of his CBB signing.
Louis inappropriately touched Scary Spice on the ITV2 spin-off show The Xtra Factor, while sitting next to Simon Cowell and Cheryl.
In the clip, he sits with his hand on the singer’s backside and she looks around, surprised, before gesturing at Louis’s hand.
Mel interrupts host Sarah-Jane Crawford to confront him.
Uncomfortable, she asks: ‘Why are you grabbing my butt?’
As Mel moves away, judge Louis laughs it off with a grin and responds: ‘I’m looking after Mel.’
Louis previously discussed the video in 2018, telling Today FM‘s Mario Rosenstock he did it as ‘a joke’.
According to The Independent, he said: ‘She was very funny and you could say anything or do anything to her and I loved her, so I would just grab her for a laugh, but it’s not PC anymore.’
In response to the resurfaced video, the Survivor’s Trust told Metro.co.uk: ‘The video of Louis Walsh groping Mel B is shocking to watch and should never cease to be so for anyone.
‘This is sexual harassment in full public view under the misguided belief that Mel B would not call him out on this in public.
‘His response to this incident is of great concern and demonstrates his lack of awareness of consent and of what constitutes sexual harassment or assault.
‘Nobody now, or at any point in history, has the right to ‘do anything’ to anybody or “just grab (her) for a laugh”.
Get up to date with Celebrity Big Brother 2024 on ITVX.
