Big Brother apologises for editing out T-shirt logo of 'watermelon' after show claimed it showed 'anti-Israel sentiment'

25 October 2024, 08:41 | Updated: 25 October 2024, 09:05

Big Brother has apologised after editing out a T-shirt containing a watermelon that it claims is a "symbol widely associated with anti-Israel sentiment" from a broadcast.

Tuesday night's episode, of the ITV2 reality television show saw contestant Ali Bromley wearing a black T-shirt displaying a watermelon in the shape of Israel, while in the garden of the Big Brother house.

The black shirt worn by the London-based forensic psychologist is said to have resembled the colours of the Palestinian flag in red, green, white and black.

It also appeared to be the shape of the disputed Israel and Palestine territories.

The watermelon symbol has been used to show solidarity with Palestinians, external during the Israel-Gaza war.

However, the broadcast episode has since been edited, with ITV saying the housemate had told them she was "unaware of the implications" of the symbol.

Following a social media backlash, a spokesman for Big Brother said: "All housemate items are checked by our production team before they go into the Big Brother House to ensure they comply with the rules and compliance requirements.

"Big Brother does not allow any personal items into the house that could be deemed harmful.

"We regret that the implications of this particular item of clothing were not fully understood in our bag checks or prior to broadcast of (Tuesday)'s show.

"We apologise to any viewers who have been offended by the broadcast and assure viewers that Big Brother was unaware of the implications of the image," they continued in a statemnent.

"The item of clothing has been removed from the house. The housemate has been spoken to and they have expressed that they are unaware of the implications and did not wish to cause any harm or offence.

"Any offensive messaging associated with the image does not reflect the values or beliefs of Big Brother."

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It is understood the Tuesday episodes of Big Brother and Big Brother Late & Live were edited to remove the footage of Ali wearing the top.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote of social media site X: "A Big Brother (@bbuk) housemate was seen wearing a T-shirt depicting the map of Israel as a watermelon - a symbol widely associated with anti-Israel sentiment."

The group, which has made various complaints about TV programmes amid the war in the Middle East, also questioned how the programme's production staff allowed the T-shirt to be "worn, let alone broadcast it on national television".

Before entering the show, Ali, originally from Leicester, said she believes the way she expresses her opinions could "rub someone up the wrong way".

She said: "If someone does something I think maybe isn't kind, or could have been a bit better thought through, I have this thing where I tend to tell people. I can be quite direct.

"It doesn't always land well - that could well get me nominated."

Ali has recently clashed with Manchester sales manager Khaled, who said if he won the series he would donate the £100,000 prize money to his home countries of Lebanon and Palestine.

She has accused him of being "fake", and told him: "You and I are done, our bridges are burnt. I don't like you, you don't like me, I'm cool with that."

Khaled responded saying that is "absolutely fine".

A recent nomination process put Izaaz, Khaled, Marcello and Nathan up for Friday's live eviction.