Celebrity Big Brother contestant Jermaine Pennant urged model Chloe Ayling to describe their interactions in the house as “banter” if she was asked about them in interviews after she was evicted.
The footballer, who has been married to glamour model Alice Goodwin since 2014, was seen exchanging written notes with Ayling. In one Pennant wrote: “I like you.”
Do you think it was just banter between Jermaine and Chloe? 🤔 #CBB pic.twitter.com/Ay8YMm93kB
— Big Brother UK (@bbuk) August 29, 2018
In scenes filmed before Ayling’s eviction on Tuesday night, Pennant, 35, confronted her in the bathroom for a private conversation.
In the footage shown on Wednesday, Pennant asked her to make sure her microphone was turned off before telling Ayling: “Yeah, I know I got a missus on the outside, but when we get out, they are going to ask all sorts of questions and you’re just going to have to say it was banter.”
Ayling replied: “Yeah but they have already seen that is not just banter. So I can’t say it’s banter when it’s not.”
Pennant retorted: “They haven’t seen anything.”
Love that we know EXACTLY what went on behind that closed door 😘 #CBB pic.twitter.com/KQvCjFfkv1
— Big Brother UK (@bbuk) August 29, 2018
A tearful Ayling then said: “You said in the confession room ‘I like you’. So you might see it as banter, but people on the outside won’t.”
Pennant replied: “Yeah but you’ve got to, you have to start. Tell no one what happened.”
Ayling told Pennant that if she received a negative reaction when she left the house then it would be his fault.
She told the Channel 5 reality show’s host Emma Willis on Tuesday following her exit that Pennant’s wife “should not be with him” after his on-screen behaviour.
The 21-year-old, who hit the headlines last year when she was kidnapped in Italy, claimed Pennant failed to tell her he was married.
During Wednesday’s episode Pennant revealed in a conversation with comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli, former broker Nick Leeson and actor Ryan Thomas, that he keeps his wedding ring in a drawer and never wears it in the house.
Singh Kohli and Thomas told him they did not know he was married.
Hmm, why’s that @pennant83? 🤔 #CBB pic.twitter.com/IfPgTL1o9f
— Big Brother UK (@bbuk) August 29, 2018
In the diary room Pennant said: “Everybody has had a bit of banter about me and Chlo.
“I dunno if people or someone or an individual has taken it the wrong way, but to me it’s just been banter. That’s all it is.
“I’ve got someone on the outside. I’ve not done anything wrong. I know where the line is.”
The next eviction from the house will take place on Friday.
Viewers will vote to save their favourite contestant, with the remaining housemates then choosing who should be evicted out of the pair that receive the fewest votes from the public.
Celebrity Big Brother continues on Channel 5 on Thursday at 9pm.