One Big Brother housemate has truly baffled viewers by confessing that she, erm, seemingly didn’t know that Christianity was a religion.
However, some fans are convinced there was a misunderstanding, and that she just didn’t realise that abstaining from sex can sometimes be a religious practice.
Emma, 53, has already acquired a fanbase among viewers of the ITV social experiment, having been branded the next reality TV ‘mother’ on launch night as she strutted into the house wearing a feathered mini dress.
As the oldest contestant this series, Emma hasn’t been afraid to put younger housemates in their place, such as 20-year-old Lily, who has a reputation for screeching, singing, and causing havoc at any given opportunity.
The aesthetics practitioner also enjoys bringing up taboo topics for discussion, whether it’s plastic surgery or, as seen tonight, virginity.
In conversation with her fellow housemates in the garden, the former Page 3 model asked casually: ‘When did we all lose our virginity?’
‘I lost mine at 14 behind an alleyway in Cyprus,’ confessed Marcello. ‘My first one was horrendous, really bad.’
Marcello, a 34-year-old youth mentor, then asked Segun, 25, how old he was when he first had sex.
‘I’m a virgin,’ he stated. ‘No sex before marriage, innit.’
‘What religion is that?’, Emma quizzed.
When he replied with ‘Christianity,’ Emma looked slightly puzzled.
‘Oh, ok,’ she said, taken aback.
‘I didn’t know that was a religion. I thought that was just a way of life.’
‘People who are not religious still choose that. I’ve met people who have no religion, no faith, and they’re like, no sex before marriage,’ Segun informed Emma.
She then asked Segun if he ever found it difficult to abstain from sex and if a girl has ever dumped him because of it.
‘No, but they were upset, though,’ he replied, before Emma asked if he can ‘do anything else’.
‘Kissing, holding hands, cuddling, that’s it… but I’m excited for it.’
Segun wasn’t the only housemate to admit he is still a virgin, as Hanah, 24, is also waiting until marriage, joking that she has wanted to get married ‘a few times’ already.
Following the exchange, viewers took to X to praise the housemates for breaking stigmas and discussing virginity so openly – but there was also a lot of confusion regarding Emma’s remarks.
‘Did Emma just say she didn’t know Christianity was a religion lmfaoooo’, wrote ohwelljamie.
‘“I didnt know christianity was a religion” i beg your pardon?’, tweeted yami___77.
‘How at the grand old age of 53 do you not know that Christianity is a religion??’, asked Jay_Alderson04.
However, some jumped to defend Emma, stating their belief that she actually didn’t realise that abstaining from sex until marriage was a religious practice… not Christianity itself.
‘I didn’t know if she meant Christianity or sex before marriage haha,’ Crawfy2k9 wrote on X.
Soapaddict1977 also added: ‘I think she misheard. Might’ve thought he said celibacy or something. There’s no wayyyyy.’
Big Brother 2024, the second series since the format was acquired by ITV last year, has already given us iconic moments over the last seven days.
We had farmer Sarah in tears after eating a meat sandwich and Lily admitting that her only reason for applying was because her ex-boyfriend loves the programme.
Then, on Friday night, Ryan became the first housemate to be evicted, with the first round of nominations sure to cause a storm from Monday…
Big Brother continues tomorrow night at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
