Ryan Thomas has detailed the trauma of his ‘Punchgate’ scandal with Roxanne Pallett during their stint in the Celebrity Big Brother house.
Speaking to his Love Island star brother Scott on their Mancs On The Mic podcast, in the wake of Big Brother returning to screens on ITV, the duo revisited the heartache of the scandal, which left Ryan bereft and betrayed in the famous house.
In 2018, Emmerdale actress Roxanne caused ructions on CBB after she accused ex Coronation Street star Ryan, of ‘repeatedly and deliberately punching’ her in what was actually Ryan punching the air in her vicinity while play fighting.
Her accusations left Ryan baffled and devastated as he continually pleaded his innocence after Big Brother cruelly issued him an official warning – despite footage clearly showing Roxanne’s allegations were entirely false.
He has now spoken about the crippling loneliness of being in the house, particularly when he was fighting for his innocence among his co-stars.
Roxanne – who later dubbed herself ‘Britain’s Most Hated Woman’ – quit the house and admitted she was wrong after seeing Ryan’s devastation, which saw him breakdown on a number of occasions in the house.
Launching their chat, Scott revealed Ryan’s original ‘get in, get out’, desires for his stint on the show: ‘Let’s be honest at the time you only went into Big Brother for the money, and you got paid? You hated reality TV…
‘Your gameplan was, I’m just gonna go in there, keep my head down and get out!’
He admitted: ‘I wanted to be the first in and the first out, I was so nervous going into that show because it’s the first time I’m showing me for me and I knew that the cameras were on me 24/7, that’s quite a daunting thing to go through.’
Scott then brought up the drama with Roxanne, saying: ‘This situation with Roxanne Pallet which you’ve never talked about before came up and I remember watching at home, and I remember like it was yesterday…
‘I even remember the exact video where you just went up to her and you gave her a little play punch, like, in the air and we’re all watching at home, as the audience, knowing exactly what’s happened, that you never even touched her…
‘So obviously we know straight away from the nation’s perspective that we’re on your side, but obviously being in there, she was making out to the to the rest of the contestants that you would physically hurt her.’
Ryan shed extensive light on the situation and what actually went down in the house: ‘From what you see on the telly and from what I see in the show they’re two different perspectives so I’ll tell you how it looked from where I was standing…
