Big Brother participants made their first appearance on Sunday night during an explosive opening show, but one housemate has since admitted that they held back their ‘true’ self.
Hallie, 18, was the programme’s youngest participant and said she was a “bit of a diva” before appearing on the show.
Hallie bravely addressed her new housemates around the breakfast table as they discussed living conditions after her first night of sleep in the BB house.
Hallie revealed to the group during the meeting that she needed to address something.
She began: ‘Hey, guys. I just have something to say. Yesterday I felt like I wasn’t being 100% authentic in myself.
‘I thought I’d let everyone know I’m trans, if you didn’t know already. I just thought I’d make that loud and clear. I’m a trans woman, if you didn’t know.’
Receiving her news with open arms, the budding reality star’s fellow housemates gave her hugs and Chanelle chimed in with: ‘Good for you. That’s very brave of you’.
Dylan, 39, followed the 29-year-old dental therapist’s kind words with: ‘This is a moment. I like it.’
Relieved, Hallie admitted, ‘I don’t know why I was nervous’, before 50-year-old Farida confirmed to her: ‘You don’t need to be nervous’.
Mum Trish, 33, summed up the group’s sentiments, saying: ‘We’ve got you’, before the table moved on to discuss other household affairs.
Later in the show, Hallie opened up to her new friends about the realities of being trans, revealing that she’d use the £100,000 prize money to repay her mother for helping to fund her treatment.
‘Are you gonna transition fully?’, Kelly asked her candidly, to which Hallie said she wanted a ‘designer vagina’ which would cost her £30,000.
Explaining to Jenkin what ‘treatment’ she’s had, she went on: ‘At 16 I started HRT, which is, like, testosterone blockers and oestrogren, so, every night, I have to do my gel. It’s literally like cream. You pump it on and rub it in between your thighs or upper arm.
‘Been on it since I was 16. Stopped for a few months because I couldn’t afford it anymore privately, and the NHS was taking really long. I went and basically said I was at risk of self-medicating because I was. I decided to go back private before I came in here because I couldn’t go without my blocker.’
Jenkin added that it was ‘ridiculous’ how much Hallie would have to pay to ‘be herself’.
‘Otherwise, it’s five years on a waiting list and I don’t want to wait that long,’ she said.
‘I’ve never had a boyfriend, I’ve never had sex, I’ve never done anything sexual with anyone because I’m not comfortable in my body,’ she added sadly.
‘I am comfortable in myself and, at the end of the day, sex isn’t the most important thing.
‘The mind doesn’t match the body, that’s the best way to describe being trans. I have a female mind but the body just doesn’t match.’
Prior to her television debut, the London youth worker characterised herself as a “girl’s girl.”
She said: ‘I speak my mind but I’m also a very lovely person. I’m a girl’s girl, for sure. I’m honest, fun and, yeah, just brilliant.’
Elsewhere, emotions rose as Olivia and Farida nearly clashed over midday food sharing.
Olivia, a 23-year-old Glaswegian dancer, was having her lunch in the kitchen when the make-up artist requested for a little of her salmon.
‘Can I have a little taste of salmon? I’m much more of a fish person than a chicken person,’ Farida asked before diving in for a bite.
Olivia walked into the garden after the interaction, looking dissatisfied with the prospect of sharing her dish.
The dancer opened up to her fellow housemates about the ordeal and explained: ‘I was eating my salmon and my corn and Farida was like, “Can I have some of your corn?”
‘And I was like, “Yeah, go for it.” Then she started eating my salmon, my actual lunch. She had a spoon and was eating off my plate.’
She added: ‘I was a bit like, “I don’t know how I feel about this”.’
Oh, it’s kicking off already!
Big Brother continues tomorrow at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
