Former Celebrity Big Brother contestant Jermaine Pennant has slammed the reality TV series as "unhealthy" and said he won't be watching when Big Brother's reboot launches in October.
The ex Arsenal footballer, 40, took part in the last celebrity series of the show to air in 2018, before it and the main series were cancelled by Channel 5.
Now, ITV2 has picked up the hit reality show which originally aired on Channel 4 and will relaunch it in October, although no celebrity spin-off is currently confirmed.
But while Jermaine can be seen taking part in another reality show, Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, he admitted he had no interest in watching Big Brother again.
Speaking to OLBG, Jermaine said: "I think it's safe to say I won't be watching Big Brother. Big Brother is not for me. I can see what it can do to people and how the show can be manipulated. I don't think it's healthy."
He continued: "You've got to be mentally strong in the BB house. The show will find ways to create an atmosphere for fallouts and confrontations. They'll put you in a situation where you either look like the villain or the hero. You've got to be clever. It's a hard slog!"
Jermaine spent 19 days in the Big Brother house for his series, which was won by Ryan Thomas with Kirstie Alley and Dan Osborne as runners up.
The 2018 series hit the headlines when Roxanne Pallett accused Ryan of assaulting her during a shadow boxing playfight, something he strenuously denied, with Roxanne accused of manipulation before she apologised for the accusations.
While Jermaine warned that Big Brother is a hard slog, he did take part in the most recent series of Celebrity SAS airing on Channel 4.
The show is known for its incredibly tough treatment of contestants and gruelling tasks, but Jermaine only had good things to say about it.
He said of Celebrity SAS, which challenges contestants to Special Forces selection training: "It was an amazing experience. Torture, but a great experience.
"It's crazy what those guys go through, and we only went through about 25% of what they go through. There were many times when I thought I couldn't do it.
"I'd say the hardest drill was the one where we tried to copy a battlefield scenario – dragging ammunition boxes, and so on. You're going up hills with 25kgs on your back. You're running through swamps in the heat. It was gruesome. You're also being shouted at constantly."
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