CBB star Mickey Rourke's rocky road to fame as he opens up about difficult childhood
11 April 2025, 15:59
Celebrity Big Brother housemate Mickey Rourke has opened up about his abusive past, explaining he 'doesn't want to be a victim'.
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Mickey Rourke caused controversy almost immediately after he entered the Celebrity Big Brother house when he made homophobic comments about fellow housemate JoJo Siwa.
The Hollywood legend, 72, also stirred up trouble when he leered over TV host AJ Odudu during the launch of this year's fly-on-the-wall reality show, causing fans to brand him "vile" and "creepy" online.
The Wrestler actor has since opened up about his personal life, giving viewers a better understanding of his eccentric personality as he admitted he often isolates himself from other people back home.
Speaking to his co-stars about his troubled past, Mickey confessed he experienced abuse as a child at the hands of his violent step-father, which has led to a series of life-long struggles.
After emerging from the CBB bedroom explaining that he found it tricky to drift off, the Iron Man 2 star admitted: "I didn’t get to sleep so quick. I have insomnia."
To which Jack P Shepherd joked: "This is you with insomnia? All you’ve done is sleep."
When asked by another housemate what made him struggle to relax, the New Yorker candidly admitted it was "fear".
He confessed: "It's like my childhood is something else, but the fear of not being able to fix anything before I go.
"When I was fourteen, after all the abuse I went through, I put my finger on the hard button because I didn't want to live in shame.
"I didn't want to be a victim anymore."
Drag queen Danny Beard became visibly upset by Mickey's haunting revelation and offered to give him a hug, which he accepted.
The movie star then apologised to a handful of his CBB co-stars as they sat listening to him around the table, including former rival JoJo, Ella Rae Wise, Chesney Hawkes and Patsy Palmer.
He said: "Sorry... I haven't been around people in about six years."
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Mickey previously shed light on his abusive childhood, once revealing in an interview with The Guardian that he and his brother Joe, who shared the same violent past, felt the need to cut their mother out of their lives.
The Angel Heart actor said: "I was angry with her for my whole life for what she did. Because she turned her back to it and she was supposed to be responsible for me and Joe.
"She didn't. She let it happen. And it happened for a decade. And it was easier to just get mad than to deal with feeling so small and abandoned."
Once Mickey had fought his way out of the house of horrors he called home, he had his eyes on one prize – a glittering career in Hollywood.
After a short but successful stint as a boxer, training in the same Miami-based gym as Muhammad Ali, he turned his attention to becoming a star and moved to New York.
In 1981, he got his breakthrough – a small role in thriller Body Heat, which kickstarted his career.
From then, he starred in a slew of hit films including Diner, Rumble Fish, Angel Heart and 9½ Weeks, catapulting him to heartthrob status.
But his fall from grace began shortly after when the LA rumour mill began swirling.
Former co-stars and crew claimed Mickey was hard to work with and was also abusing alcohol and drugs.
In the 90s, he missed out on huge movie roles and made some unfortunate career decisions that left him struggling to survive – something he is still facing now.
Speaking to Celebrity Big Brother housemate Chris Hughes about his infamous downfall, he revealed he was still trying to make ends meet and recently had to borrow money from the bank.
Mickey admitted: "Two years of Covid to then a seven-month actors’ strike, I had to borrow half a million dollars from the bank to get by and pay bills."
Despite his comeback playing pro-fighter Randy 'The Ram' Robinson in The Wrestler, for which he received an Oscar nomination, and the villain in Marvel's Iron Man 2, the American actor confessed he was struggling to this day.
In an interview before entering the Celebrity Big Brother house, he told The Sun: "I’ve made mistakes, many. I have nobody to blame for my ship sinking except myself.
"My career is in the toilet and I’m not getting A-list movies."
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