Since being evicted from Celebrity Big Brother, Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu has faced some serious backlash. From fans branding her as “fake” to Layton Williams chiming in on CBB Late and Live, Ekin-Su has faced criticism from all corners.
Here’s why I think we should give the Love Island favourite a break.
Ekin-Su headed onto the popular reality TV show off the back of a breakup with Love Island flame Davide Sanclimenti.
Ekin-Su is obviously well-known from her time on Love Island where she delved into finding love. She also performed on Dancing On Ice last year – which had a more diluted edit of what goes on behind the scenes. However, the Celebrity Big Brother contestants are being filmed 24 hours a day – ensuring all the good and bad bits are left in. And things can turn sour when nominations begin. That has surely got to get to anyone, right?
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Ekin-Su on Celebrity Big Brother
From my point of view, I feel that Ekin-Su was often misunderstood by viewers and her housemates. Although the star’s communication skills sometimes missed the mark, there were times where she tried to make an impression on her fellow contestants, but didn’t quite get the reception I believe she intended.
For example, in the first episode she quickly opened up to the former This Morning host Fern Britton and admitted she found becoming a role model tough.
This was later reflected in her own fears of being judged for appearing on Love Island (which she often expressed). It seems like she shared that piece of information in a genuine act of vulnerability. Fern later nominated Ekin-Su, saying: “I have asked you plenty of questions but sometimes the answer hasn’t been enlightening so you’re right, I don’t know much about you so I don’t get you and you don’t get me and that’s fine.”
Following those nominations recently, Ekin-Su faced backlash from viewers when showing her emotions. Ekin-Su expressed her frustrations with Marisha Wallace when the American actress chose her during face to face nominations. Ekin-Su broke down in tears, which soon sparked backlash online with viewers accusing her of being “fake”.
Watching an individual open up then slamming them for their raw emotions doesn’t give them much room to be their authentic selves, right?
Celebrity Big Brother backlash
I also feel that, as viewers, we are quick to forget the intensity of reality TV shows. It is abundantly clear that the setting can distort an individual’s behaviour.
Imagine being stuck on holiday with a bunch of people you can’t really connect with – but you still want to stick it out to try and have a positive experience. I’m sure most of us would have moments where we just want to sob into a pillow!
Many former Ekin-Su fans seem to have quickly forgotten just how much they loved her on Love Island. Let’s not forget, she won the 2022 show for a reason. This time she has starred on a show during a very different period of her life, post breakup and the emotional ebbs and flows of fame.
It seems co-star Levi Roots agrees, with the businessman gushing about Ekin-Su on This Morning earlier today (March 18).
Levi Roots defended Ekin-Su’s behaviour, dubbing her as “brilliant”. He even slammed alleged “micro-bullying” of Ekin-Su from some housemates.
Brand and culture expert Nick Ede also weighed in on the topic, telling us: “I think that we have to think about people’s mental health and also Big Brother is a game! People go on it to win and we have to remember that.”
However, he added after Ekin-Su suggested editing of CBB had shown a different side to her: “To go on national TV and say that it was the edit when you hadn’t seen the edit is gaslighting it was not the right thing to say if you want to have the public on your side.”
I think that we have to think about peoples mental health and also big brother is a game! People go on it to win and we have to remember that.
Ekin-Su misses Lorraine interview
He also shared his own advice for Ekin-Su. Ekin-Su missed an appearance on Lorraine today.
Nick stated: “I think that she should have gone onto Lorraine – out of all the TV shows it has a great audience and Lorraine is a brilliant interviewer – it would have given Ekin the opportunity to explain herself more and also with time and hindsight she could have offered her lived experiences and the audience would have listened and be more sympathetic.”
Fans defending Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu
Other Celebrity Big Brother viewers look to feel the same as I do, with plenty sharing their thoughts on social media.
One wrote: “The way they hate on Ekin-Su on the after show thing everyday is acc so uncomfortable to watch. What happened to ‘be kind’ and all that.”
Another added: “Love her. She is amazing and is being her self and doesn’t deserve the amount of hate.”
A third chimed in: “Everyone in the comments saying ‘she’s so fake’ ,‘she’s fame hungry’. WELL one, she isn’t fake, she may say the wrong things but I’m sure all of you have said the wrong things once.
“She may have her guard up, but that’s because of personal reasons. At the end of the day Big Brother edits the show to make it entertaining.”
Ultimately, I think it is very important to take what we see on our TV screens with a pinch of salt. Not everyone gets an accurate depiction of their character in the final cut!
The moral of the story is, it is always best to be kind and give our reality TV faves a break. They are human after all!
Read more: Lorraine Kelly confused as CBB star Ekin-Su pulls out of appearance
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Celebrity Big Brother continues tonight (March 18) at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
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