Celebrity Big Brother tops Ofcom complaints list after Roxanne Pallet 'punching' scandal

The media watchdog received 27,602 complaints from viewers about the Channel 5 reality TV series.The majority of the complaints focused on former Emmerdale actress Roxanne Pallett's allegations against Ryan Thomas.Pallett sparked widespread public anger after she accused ex-Coronation Street actor, Ryan Thomas, of 'punching' her.The actor and many viewers considered the 'punch' to be part of a play-fight.

A distressed Mr Thomas - who was not removed from the house after producers reviewed footage of the play-fight - said the 35-year-old "nearly ruined me."Ms Pallett, who played Jo Sugden in Emmerdale and has appeared in Dancing On Ice, Waterloo Road and Casualty, later apologised saying she had got the situation "massively wrong".However, she faced a public backlash and was dropped from her presenter role on Minster FM in York and North Yorkshire.

Celebrity Big Brother received 19,000 more complaints than the second most complained about show, ITV's Loose Women, which faced 8,000 complaints.Ofcom said the majority of the complaints were about an interview conducted with Kim Woodburn as a guest on the talk show panel.Woodburn became had a war of words with Coleen Nolan and the other panellists before storming off the set.Ofcom's Tony Close, director of content standards, licensing & enforcement, said: "Viewers are as passionate about what they watch as ever, discussing programmes with their friends and family, and with other people on social media."They complain to us when they think programmes have fallen below the standards they expect, and we carefully assess each and every complaint we receive. This year, we've taken action on many occasions where programmes have fallen short of the standards required by our rules."Top 10 most-complained about TV programmes in 2018:1. Celebrity Big Brother - 27,602 complaints2. Loose Women - 8,0023. Sky News - 4, 2514. Love Island - 4, 1925. Coronation Street - 1,0986. Emmerdale - 7597. Good Morning Britain - 5488. This Morning - 4029. I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! - 33510. The X Factor - 286