Celebrity Big Brother contestant Michael Fabricant has spoken out on his row with Trisha Goddard after becoming the first celebrity to be booted out of the ITV reality show.
The former Tory MP shed light on his spat with the broadcaster, claiming Goddard is "the one who is prejudiced", not him.
Sparks flew in the Big Brother house between the pair during a speech challenge, where Fabricant began to discuss the issue immigration issue.
Detailing his French and Jewish roots, Fabricant said: "The point I'm making is Jewish people, when they usually come to this country, believe 'do in Rome as the Romans do'."
Michael Fabricant has spoken out on his exit from Celebrity Big Brother after becoming the first contestant to leave
GB News / ITV
"So not come to this country if your aim is to change everyone to your way of thinking,” the 74-year-old continued.
Interjecting Fabricant's remarks, Goddard exclaimed: "Hang on, are you slipping into Islamophobia?", before claiming his speech was "getting dangerous."
Speaking out on the altercation on GB News, Fabricant admitted it was "very bad", but asserted that Goddard is in fact "the one who is prejudiced", not him.
Fabricant said of the row: "I'm not so dumb and stupid to generalise about a whole country - although I did tweet, 'I do think French people are rude' - but apart from that, I never generalise.
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Fabricant and Goddard were at odds during his speech challenge during the show
ITV
"I was explaining actually that I'm from a Jewish background, the name Fabricant is a French name. I did a DNA test, and I'm sort of North German, southern Scandinavian - I'm of immigrant stock, if you like. But you know, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, and that's all I was saying."
Criticising Goddard's response to his speech, Fabricant admitted: "I thought it was very bad, actually, that she did that.
"And I was really heartened that a number of Big Brother housemates came up to me afterwards and said, 'what was all that about?'
"I was never going to talk about immigration at all - I was boring them all about HS2, and I don't think they knew what the hell it was. And then Chesney Hawkes was saying go and do immigration, so I did."
When asked by host Tom Harwood if he spoke to Goddard following the spat, the ex-Tory MP revealed that he believed it "wasn't worth it" to readdress the situation.
Fabricant told GB News that he is 'sad' to have been voted out first
GB News
Fabricant said: "I did speak to her afterwards, but not about that, I just thought it wasn't worth it. I just think she's the one, actually, who's prejudiced. So I don't know what the whole agenda there was about."
Reflecting on his exit from the show, Fabricant admitted that although he is "very sad" to be the first out, but it was a "lovely experience" and he got on with "most of the housemates".
Fabricant concluded: "I was very sad because I really bonded with them, but it was such a lovely experience. It was completely different from what I expected.
"I really thought I would hate it and I would have to endure every single day, but in fact, there were such lovely people."
