Big Brother UK 2023 star Paul Blackburn has fans of the show up in arms following a tantrum he delivered in the house, with some viewers calling him out for what they’ve characterised as ‘fragile’ and ‘toxic masculinity’.
On Monday’s edition of the ITV reboot, the housemates had to compete in a weird shopping task challenge while dressed as ants and divided into two opposing teams – the orange team and the blue team.
While some of them took the challenge seriously, others believed the fact that they had to wear ant costumes made the entire narrative ludicrous – which is where Paul’s disagreement with Olivia Young and Noky Simbani, despite being on the same side, came about.
The trio were in the living room at one point when Paul, 23, chastised the members of the home who were taking the shopping chore too seriously.
After Noky, 26, and Olivia, 23, laughed at Paul’s statements, he looked to grow enraged, causing Noky to point out that he had ironically begun to take the scenario seriously.
Paul went on a rampage full of expletives, later admitting to others that while he understood he hadn’t behaved appropriately, he refused to apologise.
Several fans expressed their disgust over Paul’s behaviour in the aftermath of the events, with some demanding for him to be the next housemate evicted.
‘Paul is only upset because two women laughed at him,’ one person wrote on X (formerly Twitter), before labelling his behaviour as an example of ‘toxic masculinity’.
Toxic masculinity is a term used to describe how society expects males to engage in actions that they feel would make them appear more macho, but which may really have a harmful influence on others, both men and women.
‘Aw grow up Paul man,’ another said, while someone else stated: ‘Gonna get a ticket to a Big Brother live show just to shout “Get Paul out” and “protect Trish and Noky”.’
One person said that in their opinion: ‘Paul is the epitome of fragile masculinity.’
‘Paul why are you so rattled sis,’ another questioned.
Zak Srakaew was the second Big Brother 2023 contestant to be evicted on Friday night, following Farida Khalifa the previous week.
Speaking following his elimination, Zak relayed a statement Kerry Riches made to him before hearing the public screaming, ‘Get Kerry out,’ on eviction night, implying that she was already aware that some fans would not approve of her conduct.
‘The day before, Kerry actually came over to me. She said: “Zak, you know all the things we talk about, we do, do you reckon they’ll show everything?” So she seemed a bit worried,’ he shared.
While he criticised Kerry for calling him a game player, he also added: ‘I hope the public doesn’t give her too much of a hard time, because she is a nice woman.’
Big Brother returns at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
