Celebrity Big Brother’s AJ Odudu and Will Best dream is ‘another David’s dead’

AJ Odudu and Will Best talk their ideal Celebrity Big Brother (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)

AJ Odudu and Will Best know exactly what makes the perfect Celebrity Big Brother ahead of the second series launching on ITV1 tomorrow night.

‘Another David’s dead, that would be amazing,’ says AJ.

It’s been nine years since Tiffany Pollard – who is returning to CBB for its spin-off show Late and Live – mistakenly thought David Gest had died in the Big Brother house and been casually laid to rest in the bedroom.

For context: It was the morning after David Bowie had died while his ex-wife Angie Bowie was living with the likes of Pollard, Gemma Collins and Darren Day in the Celebrity Big Brother house.

Gest, coincidentally, had been feeling under the weather and had been resting away from the other housemates when Angie was given the news that the Heroes legend had died.

Angie then confided in the only person alive who would confuse Liza Minelli’s ex-husband for the greatest musician that ever lived, and all hell broke loose.

Reality television has never quite reached the same heights since.

‘Another David’s dead would be amazing’ (Picture: Christophe Bayle)

The first Celebrity Big Brother on ITV aired last year, though and gave it a good go with a cast that took even Big Brother’s most loyal and optimistic fans by surprise.

Sharon Osbourne – an actual A-list celebrity – was reunited with her former X Factor judge Louis Walsh, which was as iconic as it was unexpected.

He was every bit as chaotic and unfiltered on Celebrity Big Brother as he was on The X Factor, unbelievably frank about his blazing rows with Ronan Keating, called Jedward ‘vile’ while he and Mrs O ripped into James Corden and national treasure Adele with total lack of awareness they were on national television.

‘Ideally, you want someone like Louis Walsh who doesn’t know the format, doesn’t know what the hell is going on,’ says Will.

‘Louis divided opinion because he was completely himself,’ says AJ. ‘The concern can be getting a bunch of celebrities who are all media trained and know how to dodge questions, all of that jazz.

‘What you truly want is somebody who isn’t afraid to spill the tea, give some gossip, and really draw back the curtain of their celebrity lifestyle.’

Louis Walsh was a deeply problematic but legendary Celebrity Big Brother housemate (Picture: REX/Shutterstock for Big Brother)

Walsh’s Celebrity Big Brother housemates perhaps remember him less fondly. During the last few days, Walsh grew closer to the other housemates after quibbling that they were ‘supposed to be celebrities’. He promised to stay in touch and give them his number.

David Potts, who eventually won Celebrity Big Brother, has since confirmed he hasn’t heard from Louis once.

‘I’d actually be disappointed if he was responding,’ laughs AJ.

Will agrees: ‘Yeah, exactly, otherwise you’d think he was just faking the whole time.’

But no one divided opinion more than Ekin-su Cülcüloğlu. Just two years after winning Love island, one of the biggest reality TV popularity contests, she left Celebrity Big Brother to boos and lost a huge chunk of her fanbase.

She’s since bounced back in full force, winning Love Island: All Stars, but left Celebrity Big Brother scorned and bitter, clashing with AJ and Will in her exit interview.

Ekin-su Cülcüloğlu clashed with AJ and Will on Celebrity Big Brother: Late and Live (Picture: James Veysey/Shutterstock)

‘Ekin-su in Celebrity Big Brother was very different to the Ekin-su who we saw on Love Island,’ says AJ.

‘I feel like there is a sincere fairness when myself and Will interview anybody. We are literally asking questions regarding the goings-on in the house as we have watched it.

‘Those things haven’t been edited into your body. Obviously, the show is a one-hour cut-down of a 24-hour filming cycle, but the misconception people have about Big Brother is the sound engineers and producers go in there and plant things, or they interact with housemates face to face.

‘They literally don’t be another human being out of the Big Brother house so it’s a very unique experience unlike any other reality show. If you’re going to do something in the Big Brother house and be questioned about it, that’s fair.’

Will adds: ‘In terms of if somebody could be edited fairly or unfairly there are literally checks and balances.

‘There is a legal team who whose job it is to make sure that everybody is actually being represented fairly because it’s a competition that people at home are voting on so they have to be presented with a fair representation of what has been happening in the house, otherwise the votes are null and void.

 ‘I don’t know what it was like back in the day, but a huge amount of effort goes into making sure everybody is represented as accurately and fairly as possible.’

They both diplomatically agree though: ‘She was an amazing housemate – we love everyone brave enough to enter the Celebrity Big Brother house.’

Tomorrow night, Celebrity Big Brother returns with a new batch of housemates about to be immortalised as Big Brother legends, an honour bestowed to anyone who walks into the iconic compound whether they leave to boos or cheers.

At the time of our interview, a few weeks before the live launch, Will and AJ had no idea who will be entering the house.

‘I’d be lying if I sat here and said I didn’t want the biggest name,’ admits AJ. ‘But just out of curiosity. I want a celebrity I’ve never seen in this sort of scenario before.’

Well, AJ might have her wish as The Sun revealed the leaked line-up that includes Oscar-nominated actor Mickey Rourke, hoping for another comeback 17 years after he starred in the critically-acclaimed The Wrestler in 2008.

Goldie Hawn turned down a reported £ 1 million, and Macy Gray reportedly pulled out at the ‘last minute’ just weeks after storming off The Masked Singer.

Other names on the ‘leaked’ list include EastEnders legend Patsy Palmer, chat show host Trisha Goddard, US reality star Jojo Siwa, and one-hit wonder and all-around lovely popstar Chesney Hawkes.

Celebrity Big Brother returns Monday night at 9pm on ITV1.

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