Mickey Rourke Draws Criticism for Grabbing ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ Host AJ Odudu

Mickey Rourke raised eyebrows when he entered the Celebrity Big Brother house and couldn’t stop staring at host AJ Odudu.

The actor, 72, made his debut on the U.K. game show on Tuesday, April 8, alongside stars including JoJo Siwa, but his behavior with Odudu, 37, is what caused the biggest stir.

“You’re very flirtatious,” Odudu told Rourke as he grabbed her and spun her close to his body. Her cohost, Will Best, then warned Rourke to “be careful.”

The Wrestler star, meanwhile, continued gazing at Odudu, who was dressed in a feathered brown bodysuit.

“Stop looking at me!” Odudu eventually admonished him. “It’s time for you to get inside the house.”

As she pushed him toward the door, Rourke turned around and said, “No, I want to stay with you.”

British TV presenter Alan Carr questioned Odudu about the incident on the aftershow Late & Live, saying, “Can we talk about Mickey Rourke looking at you? Wow, his eyes.”

Carr, 48, went on to quip, “Find someone who looks at you the way Mickey looks at you [AJ]. His tongue was hanging out.”

Odudu agreed with her colleague’s assessment, saying, “It literally was. I was like, ‘You can’t afford these feathers. Mickey, no!’”

Some viewers were less pleased by Rourke’s behavior, with several X users noting that Odudu didn’t look happy about having to fend him off.

“Mickey Rourke made AJ very uncomfortable when he was entering the house,” wrote one viewer. “I do hope he goes out soon as that behavior was unpleasant & unprofessional. … I hope AJ is okay.”

Another X user added, “I was a fan of Mickey Rourke for his 5-second walk up & then he grabbed the presenter lady 🤢 that crowd turned on him quickkk.”

One viewer joked that Rourke could have been disciplined before even starting the game, writing, “The producers checking the rule book to see if Mickey Rourke gets a warning for an incident which happened before he even entered the house.”

Inside the house, Rourke made an impression by saying right away that he has a short temper, warning his costars not to cross him.

“I don’t take orders very well, but if everyone is nice and respectful we can have a good time,” he said. “As long as nobody pushes the envelope, because the envelope has a very short fuse.”

He added that he didn’t know what the show was before agreeing to be on it. “I have no clue about Big Brother,” he said. “I thought Big Brother was the government.”