Chris Hughes reportedly quit his role on ITV Racing before entering the Celebrity Big Brother house earlier this month, with the former Love Island star said to have been replaced by a reality star
Chris Hughes, the reality TV star best known for his stint on Love Island, reportedly quit his ITV Racing role before entering the Celebrity Big Brother house this month.
Reports say Chris couldn’t come to terms on the money with ITV, leading him to ditch the coverage. The ITV star, now competing for victory in this year’s Celebrity Big Brother finalé, has been a horseracing fan for years and was delighted to join ITV Racing back in 2019. He co-presented some of the biggest horse races on the calendar, including the Cheltenham Festival and Royal Ascot, and became a fixture on ITV Racing’s Social Stable. He was teaming up with Oli Bell, 37, who’s still working over at ITV.
Just this month, Oli appeared in the Social Stable with Sam Quek, one of ITV Racing’s newbies, who made her name on shows like strictly-come-dancing>Strictly Come Dancing and I’m A Celeb… during the Aintree Grand National Festival.
A source close to the track revealed: “Chris had a dream job on ITV Racing, but things turned sour after his ITV wouldn’t up his pay. He wasn’t paid what he thought he was owed. He had a great rapport with Oli in the Social Stable, and ITV Racing viewers have been left wondering where he went.”, reports the Mirror.
A source told The Sun that seeing Sam take over his role and present alongside Oli “it will have hit Chris hard”. Despite this, they claimed Chris was in high spirits at the Grand National in Aintree before stepping into the Celebrity Big Brother house.
ITV and Chris Hughes have been contacted by The Mirror for a response.
Chris has raised some eyebrows among Celebrity Big Brother fans due to his close bond with 21 year old JoJo Siwa. The ex-Dance Moms star entered the famous house while dating 27 year old content creator Kath Ebbs, who identifies as she/they.
In tonight’s episode of the ITV show, viewers will see an emotional JoJo receiving a heartfelt message from her mum back home. Chris, acting as the go-between, reads out the touching note: “The most important thing to tell you is a message from Kath because I know you really miss them the most. Kath’s keen to see you when you get out.'”.
Later, JoJo shares her concerns about the letter’s meaning with fellow housemate Jack P Shepherd, admitting: “I honestly like, I’m finding myself really analysing that note and I don’t like it.”
She speculated there might be a “hidden message” in the note, leading Jack to probe further.
In the diary room, Chris got emotional as he shared his feelings about reading JoJo’s letter, confessing: “…I nearly started crying before I said anything, just where it said, ‘Dear JoJo’. And it was nice, her partner’s in there, her mum’s in there. Two very important people. It was an honour; it was an honour to read out her letter..”
Meanwhile, JoJo revealed her own struggles with missing her beloved Kath in the diary room: “I think I’ve tried to keep myself distracted from missing sweet Kath. I said goodbye to them at the airport and it was a really hard goodbye. And then they were the last person I talked to before I gave up my phone for the Big Brother house. God, I love that little sucker. I do.”
She also had a bone to pick, expressing her disappointment with a hint of humour: “I do have beef to pick with them though, they didn’t even say in the note that they love me. I will not let them live that down. I will say, ‘where was my ‘hi sweetheart’, where was my ‘I love you’ where was my ‘I miss you’?’. Like happy you’re keen to see me when I get out of here, keen to see you as well, but come on baba, give me a little something something.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
