Eamonn Holmes has slammed Roxanne Pallett’s public apology to Ryan Thomas, describing it as a “PR stunt” in a scathing tweet.
The broadcaster took to Twitter to pour scorn on Roxanne’s interview with Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine on Monday morning, in which she admitted it was wrong to accuse Ryan of punching her in the Celebrity Big Brother house.
Eamonn, 58, was among those watching Roxanne’s grovelling apology but didn’t seem impressed.
Read more: Roxanne Pallett issues public apology to Ryan Thomas
He said: “It would have been better if she hadn’t apologised with this PR stunt. At least there still would have been some doubt over whether she actually believed what she was saying …. however wrong. #CBB.
“Sometimes it’s good to accept an apology – Sometimes it’s right to say Stick it.”
Roxanne said on Jeremy Vine the apology was not a PR stunt, saying she’d been advised not to do the interview, wasn’t being paid for the interview, and was not doing it to protect her career.
Roxanne said she’d been advised not to do the interview, she wasn’t paid for the interview and she wasn’t speaking out purely in a bid to protect her career.
“This has been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” she said. “I’m here today to acknowledge a mistake.”
"I massively apologise to not just Ryan but to his family, his friends, his fans, every single person that watched that…"
Roxanne Pallett has said sorry for accusing Ryan Thomas of punching her repeatedly on #CBB.@JeremyVineOn5 | #JeremyVineOn5 pic.twitter.com/cKZsFFpJMQ
— Channel 5 (@channel5_tv) September 3, 2018
Roxanne accused Coronation Street’s Ryan, 34, of punching her during what appeared to be a play fight in the Celebrity Big Brother house last week.
Viewers had seen him making punching gestures in the air while jumping around Roxanne in the kitchen.
Read more: Secrets behind Roxanne Pallett and Ryan Thomas’ decades-long feud
Big Brother issued Ryan, who apologised and said there was no malice intended, with a formal warning, which caused outrage among his friends, family and viewers, who accused Roxanne of overreacting and ‘making a mockery’ of domestic violence.
Roxanne then chose to walk off the show herself.
She said today: “I massively apologise to not just Ryan, but his family, his friends, his fans and every single person that watched that and completely and justifiably saw an overreaction to what wasn’t a malicious act.”
“I can’t apologise enough to Ryan and everybody attached to him.
“I hope people can forgive me and Ryan can forgive me in time.”
“In that moment, because I am sensitive and I was emotional I mistook what was playful. And he did apologise for it and say his ring caught me. It was the word ‘deliberate’ that I regret. Because I doubted his intention and there was no malicious intent behind that.
“And that’s what I apologise for. I shouldn’t have questioned his motivation. I got it wrong.
“Looking back I absolutely overreacted and I got it wrong.”
Roxanne said the first thing she did when she quit the show was look back at the video footage of the alleged ‘punch’.
She said: “I got it wrong. I really got it wrong.”
“After it happened, I just felt like my mind ran away with me. I am a sensitive person. Only my family and friends can vouch for that and everything in that house becomes so heightened. A look, a comment, an action. Your insecurities are heightened, your sensitivity and all I can say, the only thing I can explain it with was in the moment it felt worse than it was. I can’t prove a feeling, show you a feeling.”
Roxanne said she was “devastated and mortified” to think people felt she was making a mockery of domestic violence, as she has been in an abusive relationship herself.
“I understand that view and agree fully with every single person who was outraged by my reaction. I have been a victim of domestic violence years ago. I have worked with Women’s Aid because of my own experience and perhaps they were right in their recent comment that my reaction was a tell-tale sign of the fact I’ve been in a situation like that,” she said.
“In my life I am oversensitive to certain things because of that. I am devastated and mortified to think even one person out there felt I’d discredited or undermined abuse as that wasn’t my intention.”
She added: “I want to reassure everyone I am well aware I overreacted. I apologise massively to every person I offended, everyone I disappointed and the fact I doubted the intention behind the action.”
Roxanne will return to Celebrity Big Brother on Monday night for an exit interview with Emma Willis, where she will be quizzed on her time in the house.
Ryan was left in tears after Roxanne’s claim, saying he’d considered quitting the show himself as he “felt really low”.
Media regulator Ofcom received 11,215 complaints following the episode.
Roxanne had complained to Big Brother following the exchange with Ryan, saying: “I went from being upset to being angry, because a boy has punched me repeatedly, unprovoked.
“And we weren’t play fighting, there was no banter, it wasn’t a joke.”
She requested to sleep in a separate bedroom that night, saying the next day: “I don’t feel very comfortable or happy today at the moment because I slept separately last night because I felt uncomfortable because Ryan assaulted me.
“And he’s still here and he just smirked at me as I walked past.”
Roxanne also told housemate Ben Jardine: “Ryan punched me. It wasn’t play fighting. He punched me repeatedly in the ribs, there. I didn’t say anything but I was in so much pain all night.
“It was intentional to hurt me. He went for it. He did it with his fist and it was so sore and so aggressive and I walked off and for the next hour I was in a blur of confusion.”
The whole incident caused mass outrage among Ryan’s loved ones, co-stars and fans, with many taking to social media to defend him.
Among them was his girlfriend Lucy Mecklenburgh, who said her heart was breaking watching her boyfriend so upset on TV.
She tweeted: “This is painful to watch… I feel sick watching this. Why haven’t the house been shown the footage yet! Disgraceful.. Can’t stop crying!! Tempted to go and get him out.”
Read more: Adam Thomas hits out at CBB for using brother Ryan to push up ratings
Big Brother’s Bit On The Side host Rylan Clark-Neal backed her call to show the housemates the ‘punch’ footage, tweeting: “I’m gonna get in trouble for this , I’m all for no interfering no outside contact etc …. BUT SHOW THE HOUSEMATES THE FOOTAGE. There I’ve said it. Praying they will.
He added: “I’ve never been more uncomfortable watching an episode.”
Celebrity Big Brother continues tonight at 9pm on Channel 5.
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