Some thought it was strange for Angie Bowie to remain in the Celebrity Big Brother house; some thought Channel 5 was exploiting her grief over her dead ex-husband David Bowie for ratings.
Then the real shitstorm hit approximately seven fans.
When Angie revealed that ‘David’ had ‘died of cancer’ to fellow housemate, former VH1 star Tiffany Pollard thought she was talking about David Gest, their housemate.
She broke down inconsolably.
Then somebody discovered David Gest asleep in bed, feeling a little ill, and Angie explained she had meant her ex-husband, David Bowie.
Pollard, instead of accepting what had happened as a misunderstanding, started screaming about Angie Bowie being ‘sick,’ and the rules of Big Brother housemates not being allowed access to outside media.
Bowie called it a ‘comedy of errors,’ but a series of unpleasant confrontations around the misunderstanding blew up, and were transmitted on television.
The rest of the house turned on Pollard for her over-reaction, until she feebly tried to make amends. But it seems too little, too late. Pollard is now a pariah.
According to The Guardian, 208 complaints have now been made by viewers about how the show has handled Bowie’s death, from Angie Bowie’s grief being shown, to the aggressive confrontations of Tuesday night’s episode.
One viewer queried how someone of Bowie’s stature could have had their death turned into ‘tawdry farce.’
Angie Bowie is now one of five celebrities up for eviction from the house on Friday night.
If David Bowie is watching this from wherever he is, he may well be congratulating himself on his excellent decision to live a life of relative privacy.