Celebrity Big Brother's Infamous 'David's Dead' Scene Aired 10 Years Ago Today

It’s now been 10 years since the reality TV moment so outrageous, we still question whether or not we dreamed it. First, a bit of context. In January 2016, the whole world was mourning the loss of David Bowie , who had died suddenly at the age of 69, following a private battle with liver cancer. The whole world, that is, apart from a group of semi-famous people in Borehamwood, who were living in the Celebrity Big Brother house at the time, and therefore had no contact with the outside world. Among this group was the late musician’s ex-wife, Angie Bowie , who producers chose to notify about the news privately in the Diary Room. Angie Bowie in the Celebrity Big Brother house Although Channel 5 bosses gave Angie the option of leaving the show via the back door in light of the news, she ultimately decided to stay in the house, but was understandably rather shaken by the loss. During a quiet moment, she confided in fellow housemate Tiffany Pollard – who had picked up on the fact Angie was feeling out of sorts – about her loss. What happened next was certainly one of the most shocking moments ever shown on Celebrity Big Brother, if not reality TV altogether. This was the beginning of an outrageous string of events You see, fellow contestant David Gest had been feeling rather under the weather for the previous few days. So when Angie infamously whispered “David’s dead” to the reality star, Tiffany got the wrong end of the stick and, fearing the worst, had a big reaction to her housemate’s revelation. Darren Day offers a shoulder This led to a farcical series of events almost Shakespearean in nature, with Tiffany frantically trying to explain her version of events to the rest of the house, Darren Day pulling back the bed covers to reveal David Gest alive and well, and Gemma Collins watching the whole thing with a face like thunder. That was our reaction too, to be honest Adding to the surreal scene was the fact that the only other person who knew the full story – former EastEnders actor John Partridge – wasn’t even able to calm the situation, as he was in the shower at the time. Eventually, he was forced to come out and try to restore some class of order with one towel knotted around his waist, and another draped around his shoulders. It's hard to maintain authority when you're wearing a towel, but John tried his best The “David’s dead” saga led to a flood of complaints to Ofcom , culminating in  CBB becoming the most complained-about show of 2016. Both David Gest and Angie Bowie later left the house of their own accord in the days that followed. The former sadly died three months after leaving the house in April 2016, after suffering a stroke. Years later, Darren Day told GQ that David Gest had been out of the house that day to visit medical professionals, fuelled the moment even further. “David was very poorly that day. We thought he had flu or something,” he recalled shared. Meanwhile, CBB star Christopher Maloney also revealed that once things in the house had cooled, another contestant had a near-death experience of their own after choking on a steak at dinner, leading to him being led out of the house to visit medics. Relive the chaos for yourself in the video above. READ MORE 'It Was Ghastly': Vanessa Feltz Reflects On Her Memorable Stint In The CBB House Two Decades Later How Jackie Stallone Created One Of Reality TV's Most Iconic Moments Of All Time These Are The 10 Most Complained-About TV Moments In Ofcom's History