Mickey Rourke, 72, told to call drag queen ITV CBB co-star ‘she’ as fan debate erupts after he admits ‘it gets confusing’
Actor Mickey Rourke, 72, has sparked a debate among Celebrity Big Brother fans following Tuesday’s episode after he questioned what pronouns to use when speaking about housemate Danny Beard.
RuPaul’s Drag Race star Beard, 32, entered the famous house alongside Rourke on Monday evening, decked head to toe in their drag queen ensemble as this year’s cast got to know one another.
While Beard appears to have already clashed with former Olympian Daley Thompson, the drag performer and Rourke have hit things off.
So much so, Rourke admitted he’d been considering Beard as a candidate for immunity from the first public vote after he received the ‘Guardian Angel’ prize by Big Brother during Tuesday’s show.
Discussing Beard and his fellow housemates, Rourke opened up to Big Brother in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
“I’ve never done the conga before. I just tried to do what everyone else was doing,” Rourke began, referring to the secret task his co-stars got him involved with upon his arrival.
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“I was a little thrown off by it, but I thought what the f***, why don’t I join in and do what everyone else was doing. What else am I gonna do? Sit on the couch?”
He then turned his attention to his housemates: “The people are really nice here. I like Daley a lot, and Angellica (Bell) gave me a blanket, and Chris (Hughes) was great…
“The one with the shoulders, the guy or girl, whatever, is very nice. I don’t know how to refer to him or her,” Rourke continued, referring to Beard’s appearance.
Big Brother told the Hollywood actor: “Big Brother suggests you refer to Danny as ‘she’ when in drag, or ‘he’ or ‘they’ when they’re not.”
Rourke replied: “It gets confusing. Okay, ‘she’ is a nice person. A wild look, wow.”
Rourke chuckled before Big Brother went on to ask him how he felt to have the ‘Guardian Angel’ power.
“Pretty good. So if it can help me say, ‘No, don’t kick that person out’, I like that,” Rourke said.
“I like that lady Trisha (Goddard). I like Danny. Danny’s very nice. I like Daley the best because he’s an athlete and because of all that he accomplished in his career, I have a lot of respect for the man. Everybody’s been great.”
While Rourke appeared on-board with Big Brother’s advice when addressing Beard, some ITV viewers debated whether or not the pronoun discussion was necessary given the performer goes by “he” when not in character.
On X, several viewers made their thoughts clear on the drag queen and pronoun debate, with one arguing: “If someone doesn’t believe in Islam but respects the people and religion are they Islamophobic? So if someone believes there’s only biological women & men, why are they labeled transphobic? I’ll respect your pronouns & what you perceive as truth but you’re not gonna make me #CBBUK.”
A second added: “Mickey got Danny’s pronouns correct. Wearing a dress and makeup as an act doesn’t make a he a she. #CBBUK.”
And a third argued: “Remember when drag queens knew they were men in dresses and didn’t care about pronouns cos they knew they were men? #CBBUK.”
However, others applauded Rourke for asking and adhering to Big Brother’s guidance.
“If Mickey Rourke can understand and respect pronouns, SO CAN YOU. #CBBUK,” one fan argued before another agreed: “I don’t want to hear any more nonsense about ‘oh they’re from a different era’ anymore #CBBUK.”
And a third praised: “Got to give it to Mickey, even though he doesn’t understand what pronouns Danny uses, he’s still super respectful in his confusion and uses correct terms when told, just goes to show doesn’t it! #CBBUK.” (sic)
While Rourke appears to have struck up a bond with Beard, the drag performer has admitted feeling a slightly colder reception from athlete Thompson.
According to Beard, Thompson shared some slightly pointed comments toward them and was supposedly caught staring at the drag performer on opening night.
Beard hoped to build bridges with Thompson the following day, which will air in scenes on Wednesday evening.
However, Thompson has faced calls to be booted from the show by angered CBB viewers, thanks to his conduct towards Beard and some unearthed tweets.
Following his clash with Beard, the drag star’s fans flocked to X to condemn Thompson for appearing to endorse the tweets of outspoken biological women’s rights advocate JK Rowling.