Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh and Fern Britton tear into Meghan Markle on Celebrity Big Brother

Since the series started on ITV earlier this month, all three of the housemates have not held back when sharing their candid views on stars ranging from James Corden and Phillip Schofield to Simon Cowell and Jedward, which prompted a retaliation from the former X Factor contestants.

The latest person to be criticised was Meghan Markle, with Walsh wondering aloud: “Does anybody like her?”

Talk immediately turned to Markle when the housemates said they were concerned for Kate Middleton, with Osbourne, who said she thought Markle was an “actress”, asking: “Imagine if that ring went to Meghan?”

Britton, who described Meghan as “mysterious”, said “I just want Harry and the kids to be happy.” Levi Roots stepped in to say that he has met both Harry and William, and preferred the former’s company, with his family posting on social media after the scene aired: “We’re Harry and Meghan lovers in this household.”

Osbourne has a history of making her views about Markle known. In 2023, while appearing on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Osbourne said her public displays of affection with Prince Harry were “disingenuous”.

In 2021, after Morgan quit Good Morning Britain following a controversial rant about Markle, Osbourne defended the broadcaster, writing on X/Twitter: “@piersmorgan I am with you. I stand by you,” Osbourne tweeted. “People forget that you’re paid for your opinion and that you’re just speaking your truth.”

This led to a tumultuous time for Osbourne, who ended up in a terse back-and-forth with Sheryl Underwood, her former co-star on US series The Talk.

Explaining her support for Morgan, Osbourne said: “I feel like I’m about to be put in the electric chair because I have a friend who many people think is racist, so that makes me a racist.

When the show returned after an advert break, Osbourne tearfully asked Underwood in a raised voice: ‘I will ask you again, Sheryl... and don’t try and cry because if anyone should be crying, it should be me. This is the situation, you tell me where you have heard him say racist things. Educate me.”

Underwood calmly replied that it wasn’t “exact words of racism” but “the implication and the reaction to it” and that she wasn’t trying to accuse Osbourne of being racist.

“I think it’s too late, I think that seed’s already sewn,” Osbourne said.

A review into the heated discussion by network CBS, found in part that Osbourne’s behaviour towards her co-hosts during the 10 March episode “did not align with our values for a respectful workplace”, and she left the show.