Celebrity Big Brother: what did Roxanne Pallett do to Ryan Thomas on last series in 2018, where are they now?

Celebrity Big Brother 2018 was the last season of the show for six years, but it is still remembered for the dramatic conflict between housemates Roxanne Pallett and Ryan Thomas.

The pair were at the centre of a huge fallout that threatened to destroy first Ryan - and later Roxanne’s career. The scandal should be a warning to any future contestants on the show, to remember that pretty much everything that goes on in the Big Brother house is filmed, so it’s not a good idea to lie about events.

With the Celebrity Big Brother series 23 on the way, we look back to 2018 at the most controversial moment from the entire history of the series - Roxane Pallett's 'punchgate'.

What happened on the 2018 series of Celebrity Big Brother?

During an episode which aired on August 30 2018, housemates Ryan and Roxanne were playfighting - Ryan pretended to box around her and lightly brushed her during the interaction.

Roxanne first laughed about it, but later claimed that Ryan had punched and hurt her. When Ryan denied hurting her, Roxanne called him a ‘liar’ and a ‘woman-beater’ and began sleeping in the spare bedroom, claiming she didn’t feel comfortable being in the same room as Ryan.

Ryan was given a formal warning and some housemates supported Roxanne, not knowing that her claims were false. Ryan was seen breaking down in tears in the Diary Room over the allegations.

When the show’s producers decided not to take any action against Ryan it became clear that he had not punched Roxanne as she had claimed.

More than 25,000 viewers complained to Ofcom over the incident, and people were heard chanting ‘get Roxy out’ from outside the studio. Roxanne decided to leave the show on the morning of September 1 and later returned for an interview with series presenter Emma Willis.

She told Emma that she had made a horrible mistake in falsely accusing Ryan of hitting her and asked to be forgiven, although she still maintained that it did ‘hurt’ when Ryan brushed her with his finger. 

Emma said that the interaction had been ‘blown out of all proportion in your mind’, and said that if the cameras hadn’t been there, Roxanne would have ruined Ryan’s life.

EastEnders actor Sam Attwater later claimed that he had had a similar experience with Roxanne when they performed together on the  Rocky Horror tour.

Where is Roxanne Pallet now?

Roxanne’s TV career came to an end following the events of Celebrity Big Brother - she took part in Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls and Celebrity Coach trip which both aired after her controversial Big Brother appearance, but both shows had been filmed before she entered the Big Brother house.

Her only TV appearances filmed after Big Brother have been two turns as a panellist on Jeremy Vine. She has since married her partner Nick Carrion in 2020, and now goes by Roxanne Carrion. They have since had a son together, named Maverick.

Where is Ryan Thomas now?

After going on to win the 2018 series of Celebrity Big Brother, Ryan announced his retirement from acting, but he continues to appear on various reality TV shows. He took part in Celebrity MasterChef in 2022, and is currently competing in Dancing on Ice, where he has reached the semi-final.

Following Big Brother, Ryan got engaged to his partner model and TV personality Lucy Mecklenburgh, and the pair have two children together.