India Willoughby claims that she was deliberately misgendered by Rachel Johnson on Celebrity Big Brother
(Photo: steve_the_brockman/instagram)
Celebrity Big Brother housemate India Willoughby has alleged that fellow contestant Rachel Johnson intentionally misgendered her on the show.
Speaking on the after show, Big Brother’s Bit on the Side on Monday, India said that Rachel was partially responsible for her eviction.
“Rachel was the start of my demise,” she said to host Rylan.
“I thought she was my friend but she was misgendering me from day one.”
(Photo: Channel 5)
India then accused Rachel, the sister of former London Mayor Boris Johnson, of being highly tactical in the house.
She said that Rachel was known for causing arguments in the CBB house, saying she was: “planting bombs, walking off and waiting for them to explode.”
When asked by host Rylan whether India thought that Rachel’s misgendering of her was intentional or spiteful, India replied that she did think that she was misgendered on purpose.
(Photo: Channel 5)
She said: “I don’t think it was spite but I think it was deliberate.”
Rachel Johnson was one of five housemates to be nominated for eviction this week, along with former politician Ann Widdecombe and fan favourite Andrew Brady.
(Photo: Channel 5)
In an interview on Monday morning, India claimed that she had been banned from the girls’ bedroom on her first night in the house.
In scenes she says weren’t aired on CBB, India claims the worst part of her stint was when housemates refused to let her sleep in the girls’ bedroom on the first night.
“Within an hour of going in the house, I was being misgendered left, right and centre. I started off politely pointing out why that was inappropriate,” she revealed.
India Willoughby (The Wright Stuff)
“The girls all had a conference and decided if anyone was going to move it should be me. I didn’t feel like I should be going in the boys’ bedroom.”
Misgendering is when someone uses the incorrect pronouns (such as he, she or they) for a trans person which can be highly upsetting or offensive.
(Photo: Channel 5)
Criticising fellow housemates Rachel and Ann, India continued: “There was an undercurrent from the start, because of what they were doing – the misgendering – it marked me out as runt of the litter.
“If you’re continually being questioned about whether you’re he or him, you are going to reaffirm your gender.”
During her first interviews, the self-titled Big Brother ‘superfan’ said that her tactics for the show had failed her early on.
(Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images)
“I think I peeved them off on the night they came in with the question about gender and love. My tactics were all over the place,” she said.
“I was psyched up to mix it a little bit. Cause confrontations. I wanted to have fun and cause a bit of mischief. It just didn’t go down very well.”
India became known to TV viewers as a presenter of Loose Women, where she shot to fame with her opinionated commentary on the show.
