This article is more than 9 months old

This article is more than 9 months old

An episode of Celebrity Big Brother in which the former Emmerdale actor Roxanne Pallett accused her fellow housemate Ryan Thomas of assault was the most complained-about TV show of the decade.

The episode, which aired on Channel 5 last year, prompted more than 25,000 complaints to the broadcast regulator, Ofcom.

It received more than three times the number of complaints of the show in second, an episode of ITV’s Loose Women.

The programme in question, in which the former How Clean Is Your House? presenter Kim Woodburn walked off the set after arguing with the panellist Coleen Nolan, prompted just over 8,000 complaints.

Tony Close, the director of content standards at Ofcom, said: “Overwhelmingly, the most contentious programmes of the 2010s were either reality shows – like Love Island, Big Brother and The X Factor – or news and current affairs.

“One important reason might be the rise of social media over the decade. We know people like to discuss reality shows online. And in a time of political change, social media has also shaped increasingly passionate debate around news coverage.”

Half of Ofcom’s 10 most complained-about shows of the decade were reality TV programmes, with the other half news and current affairs.

The third-most complained-about show was Channel 4’s Ukip: The First 100 Days, which aired in 2015. The programme received more than 6,000 complaints, the majority of which said the portrayal of the party was “misleading, offensive and biased”.

A Sky News interview last year with Tommy Robinson drew almost 3,500 complaints after supporters of the far-right activist alleged bias and defamation of character in the editing of the piece. Ofcom decided not to formally investigate whether the interview had breached broadcasting rules.

Channel 4’s Jon Snow made the list at number six after commenting earlier this year that he had “never seen so many white people in one place” in a news story on Brexit rallies. Ofcom cleared Snow of breaching its code. His news piece was the most complained-about show of this year, with 2,717 complaints to Ofcom.

“While the overall volume of complaints we receive about a programme is certainly a good indicator it needs examining, it’s not necessarily a sign that the broadcasting rules have been broken,” Close said. “For example, shows with large audiences often generate more complaints because more people are watching.”

Ofcom assessed almost 28,000 complaints from TV and radio audiences this year.

Most complained-about shows of the decade

1. Celebrity Big Brother, Channel 5 – 30, 31 August, 1 September 2018

25,327 complaints about the incident involving Pallett and Thomas.

2. Loose Women, ITV – 29 August 2018

8,002 complaints (of which 7,912 related to the interview with Woodburn that resulted in her walking off the set).

3. Ukip: The First 100 days, Channel 4 – 16 February 2015

6,187 complaints, of which the majority were that the portrayal of Ukip was misleading, offensive and biased.

4. Sky News – 27 September 2018

3,463 viewers alleged bias and defamation of character in the editing of an interview with Robinson.

5. The X Factor, ITV – 11 December 2010

2,868 complaints that performances by Rihanna and Christina Aguilera were too explicit for broadcast before the 9pm watershed.

6. Channel 4 News, Channel 4 – 29 March 2019

2,717 complaints when Snow said, following a day of rallies and protests relating to Brexit, that he had “never seen so many white people in one place”.

7. Love Island, ITV2 – 1 July 2018

2,644 viewers raised concerns about emotional distress to contestants, specifically Dani Dyer, after a clip was shown to her of her then boyfriend, Jack Fincham, with his former partner.

8. The Wright Stuff, Channel 5 – 6, 7, 8 December 2011

2,358 complaints that Matthew Wright and a guest made insensitive and inappropriate comments when discussing an article in the Daily Mail regarding the first murder case in the Hebrides for 40 years.

9. Big Brother, Channel 5 – 24 June 2015

2,024 complaints about comments made by contestants.

10. Sky News with Kay Burley, Sky News – 5 June 2015

1,838 complaints about the tone of Kay Burley interviewing Nick Varney, the chief executive of Merlin Entertainment, in the aftermath of the Alton Towers rollercoaster crash.

Source: Ofcom