Big Brother star Olivia has been praised for questioning whether transphobia played a role in Hallie’s eviction from the show.
On her second day in the house, Hallie, 18, opened up to fellow contestants about her gender identity sparking a touching moment where all housemates discussed their prefered pronouns.
The moment was cited as a positive example of Britain’s increasingly progressive attitude towards sex and gender.
But the popular housemate’s journey ended on Friday (27 October) when she was evicted from the house having received the highest number of votes from the public at the first time of asking.
On Sunday (29 October) night’s show, the episode opened with the contestants reeling from the vote, and Kerry asking Olivia what the viewing public might have found “aggravating” about Hallie to want her gone from the show.
“People can have prejudices towards certain things,” Olivia theorised. “I would hate to think it… I just think it really puts it in perspective, how many people have sat at home and opted to use their vote to get rid of you.”
Speaking to The Independent, a spokesperson for the LGBT+ charity Stonewall said that while the “vast majority” of the British people were supportive of trans people, in recent years, “we have seen prejudice increasing, actually, against trans people”.
They pointed to the British Social Attitudes survey, which showed that British people had become less accepting towards trans people in the last two years.
“Mostly we assume that public attitudes continue to become more progressive over time, but unfortunately, there are more people now in society who do have prejudice against trans people,” Stonewall added.
During the episode, a shocked, Kerry responded to Olivia’s theory, whispering: “Oh my goodness… An 18-year-old girl.”
“That’s what I mean,” Olivia replied. “I think it’s so wrong on so many levels… Out of the three people nominated today, if you don’t feel a specific way about two of them, but you really despise one of them.”
Fellow housemate Chanelle then weighed in, asking if the verdict mattered “in the grand scheme of things” as everyone would eventually be evicted from the house.
Hallie was evicted from the ‘Big Brother’ house on Friday— (ITV)
“It’s just trolling and stuff like that,” Olivia said. “You don’t want to think that Hallie being a trans female would be a reason, but there are horrible people out there. Even if they’re not watching the show, they might be jumping on a bandwagon.”
However, Chanelle said that she didn’t believe “people think like that”. “I wouldn’t think people are voting for her if they absolutely despise her,” she said.
“I don’t think they despise her, I think it’s very obvious that lots of the public adore her,” Olivia responded.
Soon after, other members of the house gathered to discuss Olivia. Chanelle said that “it doesn’t need to be any deeper than it is”, while Jenkin said that he agreed and was “p***ed off” by her comments.
“I don’t understand how Hallie being trans has got anything to do with the voting system,” he said. “Everyone is from a minority. Everyone has a reason… It wasn’t a race vote when Farida was voted out, then it’s not fair for Zak to go.”
The moment didn’t go unnoticed by viewers, one of whom pointed out that it was particularly frustrating to see Jenkin, who is gay, “outright dismiss Olivia’s suggestion that prejudice played a role in Hallie’s eviction”. The tweet read: “It’s an obvious thing to consider! Especially because every housemate evicted so far has been a minority.”
Olivia was praised for raising the subject to the housemates— (ITV)
Another viewer wrote that the dismissal of Olivia’s comments had left “such a sour taste in my mouth”, while one Twitter/X user questioned: “How are you gonna act so blind to the transphobia in this country?” Another commenter wrote: “The people in this house are allergic to putting anything in context.”
According to recent Home Office statistics published in October, transgender hate crimes increased by 11 per cent in England and Wales in the year ending March 2023.
In its briefing, the Home Office admitted that increased discussion and “debate” around trans identity “may have led to an increase in these offences, or more awareness in the police in the identification and recording of these crimes”.
However, viewers also praised Olivia for standing up for Hallie. Stonewall’s de Santos echoed this, saying: “No form of social progress has been successful when it relies purely on the people who are directly affected to speak out and talk about the prejudices out there in society. It's really powerful that Olivia has spoken out and showed her solidarity to trans people by speaking about the prejudice that is, sadly all too common in society.
Big Brother airs Sunday to Friday at 9pm on ITV2.
