An ITV star has slammed Nigel Farage after being kicked out of Reform (Image: Getty)
An ITV star has taken to social media to give their opinions on Reform UK after admitting the party had revoked their membership. George Gilbert, a 23-year-old actor-turned-parish councillor from Finchingfield, near Braintree, Essex, was one of the stars of the 2025 edition of ITV’s reality show Big Brother. He was removed from the house in October 2025 due to “repeated use of unacceptable language and behaviour” after receiving multiple warnings about his conduct.
Filming with his phone as he walked outdoors, he told followers he would be voting Green in the upcoming council elections on May 7. “Trust me, even I never thought I’d be saying that – it feels so naughty,” he quipped. “But it’s true, because Reform UK… is merely an establishment Trojan horse there to conciliate us into inaction. Into thinking, ‘Oh, it’s all sunshine and roses because Nigel [Farage] is at the helm’. Not true,” he insisted. “Don’t play the game. Don’t fall for it, because Reform, we all know, is made up of a load of failed conservative associates and ministers,” he said.
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“So that should be the biggest sign you need to realise that they’re just all talk, no walk,” he continued.
“But also, people are going, ‘Oh George, why don’t you pledge allegiance to Restore Britain. Are they up your street? Well, right now, it’s just a skeleton…of a party, and there’s no meat on the bone. There’s not much structure.
“So bearing that in mind, yeah, maybe in the future, who knows…but Restore Britain don’t have any councillors running on May 7, not in my area, as far as I know anyway, so I can’t vote for them.
“So next best thing, let’s try and do as much damage as we can to Reform, whether you’re Restore or anyone else.
Big Brother star George Gilbert has revealed Reform UK revoked his membership (Image: X)
“We don’t want Reform to do well to get that momentum, so we want to stunt the momentum as best as we can, and to do that, we must vote for their biggest competitor for me in my area, that’s the Greens.
“So that’s what I’m saying. Vote for the Greens if in your area, if it’s Labour or whatever else, vote for them, because we don’t want what Reform does.
“…That’s the message of the day. I haven’t lost my head. I’m deadly serious when I say I’m voting Greens, and like I say, my DMs are open if any green division wants me to go leafleting or speak at an event,” he said.
“…I will do anything because I don’t want them to win. I want to see them burn, all right. Vote Green,” he concluded.
ITV Star Dumped by Reform UK After Election Row
Reform UK has been hit by another internal controversy after former Big Brother contestant George Gilbert said the party had revoked his membership following a dispute connected to his television appearance and his plans to stand in local elections.
Gilbert, a 23-year-old former reality television contestant and parish councillor from Essex, said Reform informed him that his membership had been withdrawn after concerns over comments made during his time on ITV’s Big Brother.
The decision has since triggered a public dispute, with Gilbert accusing the party of failing to give him an opportunity to explain or respond to the allegations before his membership was revoked.
The episode has opened another debate about how Reform handles controversial remarks by members and prospective candidates, as the party continues to expand its presence in local government.
George Gilbert says his membership was revoked
Gilbert became known nationally after appearing on the 2025 series of ITV’s Big Brother. He was removed from the programme in October 2025 following what ITV described as repeated use of unacceptable language and behaviour.
The programme’s decision attracted significant attention at the time, although ITV did not broadcast the comments that led to Gilbert’s removal.
Several months later, Gilbert revealed that Reform UK had also revoked his party membership.
In a letter published by Gilbert, Reform’s general secretary Tom Waterhouse told him that the party had decided to revoke his membership under the organisation’s constitution.
The letter cited the party’s power to revoke membership when a person’s behaviour, in the chairman’s discretion, brings Reform into disrepute.
It specifically referred to Gilbert’s removal from Big Brother and allegations that comments made on the programme could be interpreted as antisemitic.
The letter stated that Reform did not want to be associated with those comments and informed Gilbert that he had a 14-day period in which to appeal the decision.
Gilbert has disputed the way the decision was reached.
According to his account, he was not given an opportunity to explain the circumstances surrounding his departure from Big Brother before the party took action. He said the letter came as a surprise.
From Reform supporter to outspoken critic
The dispute became more significant because Gilbert had previously been an enthusiastic supporter of Reform.
He said he had been a party member since 2022 and had publicly defended Reform before and during his television career.
Gilbert also said he had attended party events and supported Reform campaign activity.
His political ambitions went beyond membership. He said he had applied to become a Reform candidate for local elections, viewing his previous experience as a parish councillor as a potential foundation for a larger role in local government.
That made the decision to revoke his membership particularly significant.
Instead of preparing to campaign for Reform, Gilbert subsequently began publicly criticising the party.
In a social-media video, he said he intended to vote Green in his local area rather than support Reform.
He also described the party as an organisation that had disappointed him after he had spent years supporting it.
Those comments transformed what might otherwise have been an internal disciplinary matter into a public political dispute.
Reform’s position centres on the Big Brother controversy
The central issue for Reform appears to be the comments that resulted in Gilbert’s removal from Big Brother.
ITV removed him from the programme in October 2025 following what the broadcaster described as repeated unacceptable language and behaviour. Contemporary reporting confirmed that the decision followed multiple warnings.
The Reform letter subsequently referred to the controversy when explaining why his membership had been revoked.
The party’s position, as reported in the correspondence, was that it did not want to associate itself with remarks that could be interpreted as antisemitic.
This distinction is important because the comments themselves were not broadcast by ITV.
Consequently, the public has not necessarily seen the complete context in which the remarks were made.
That has become one of the issues raised by Gilbert and his supporters, who argue that a political party should establish the facts before taking disciplinary action.
Gilbert says there was no investigation
One of Gilbert’s main complaints is procedural.
He has said Reform did not contact him before sending the letter revoking his membership.
According to his account, he was not asked to explain what had happened during Big Brother or given an opportunity to challenge the allegations.
That claim has become a central part of the wider argument.
Political parties have their own membership rules and disciplinary procedures, and membership is not equivalent to holding elected public office. Parties can impose standards on members and candidates that go beyond the legal minimum.
But the controversy demonstrates the difficulty of applying those standards consistently.
If a party moves quickly against one member because of comments or behaviour, critics may ask whether similar standards are applied to other figures.
If it does not act, opponents can accuse it of tolerating behaviour that damages the party’s reputation.
Reform has faced versions of this dilemma before.
A wider problem for a growing party
The Gilbert controversy comes at a time when Reform has become a much larger political organisation.
The party has moved from being primarily associated with Nigel Farage’s national political campaigns to controlling or sharing control of a growing number of local authorities.
That expansion has brought hundreds of councillors and thousands of members into the organisation.
With that growth comes greater exposure to controversies involving individual candidates and members.
The problem is not unique to Reform.
Established parties have frequently faced disciplinary disputes involving councillors, prospective candidates and members whose comments or behaviour have attracted public criticism.
However, Reform’s rapid expansion makes the issue particularly visible.
The party has attempted to present itself as different from the established political organisations, while simultaneously having to build formal structures capable of handling membership, candidate selection and disciplinary issues.
The candidate-selection question
Gilbert’s case is also connected to a wider question about who Reform allows to represent it at local level.
As the party has expanded rapidly, prospective candidates have increasingly come from outside traditional political careers.
That can bring people with professional, community or social-media backgrounds into politics for the first time.
The advantage is that parties can recruit candidates who have local recognition and direct experience of community issues.
The difficulty is that candidates with little previous political experience may also have extensive social-media histories or public statements that become relevant once they seek elected office.
For Reform, this creates a balancing act.
The party wants to present itself as an alternative to established politics, but candidates are increasingly being subjected to the same level of scrutiny as politicians from Labour, the Conservatives and other parties.
The controversy over political “cancellation”
Gilbert has framed his removal as evidence of what he regards as a contradiction between Reform’s commitment to free speech and its willingness to discipline members over controversial remarks.
That criticism has been echoed by some commentators.
But membership of a political party is different from an individual’s general right to express political opinions.
A party can establish rules governing who may represent it, appear on its candidate lists or remain a member.
The more difficult question is whether those rules are applied transparently and consistently.
In Gilbert’s case, the party’s letter provided a stated reason for the decision and identified an appeal mechanism.
Gilbert’s criticism concerns the process that preceded the decision, particularly his claim that he was not consulted before his membership was revoked.
That is a factual dispute about procedure rather than simply a disagreement over political ideology.
Why the row matters for Reform
The incident may appear relatively small compared with the national political battles facing Reform, but internal disciplinary controversies can have wider consequences for a growing party.
Reform has spent considerable effort building its local-government operation. Candidate recruitment is therefore increasingly important.
A party seeking hundreds of council seats needs candidates who can withstand media scrutiny and represent the organisation consistently.
At the same time, overly strict disciplinary action can create dissatisfaction among grassroots members who believe they should have greater freedom to express their views.
Reform has experienced internal disagreements before, including disputes involving members and former officials over the party’s organisation and leadership.
The Guardian previously reported tensions inside Reform over the treatment of suspended members and arguments about the party’s internal democracy.
The Gilbert affair therefore fits into a broader question about how the party manages rapid growth.
A very different political future for Gilbert
For Gilbert himself, the dispute has produced a dramatic change in political direction.
He entered public life as a Reform supporter and sought to move from parish-level politics towards a larger elected role.
Instead, he now publicly criticises the party and has associated himself with the emerging Restore Britain political movement.
By May 2026, Gilbert was appearing publicly alongside figures from different parties and political organisations as a supporter of Restore Britain.
That illustrates how quickly political loyalties can change, particularly among younger activists who do not necessarily have decades of attachment to one established party.
For Reform, meanwhile, the episode serves as another reminder of the challenges that come with rapid expansion.
The unanswered questions
The central questions surrounding the dispute are ultimately straightforward.
What exactly was said during Big Brother? Why did ITV decide the comments warranted Gilbert’s removal? Did Reform give him an adequate opportunity to respond before revoking his membership? And will he appeal the decision within the period set out in the party’s letter?
The public record currently provides only part of the picture.
What is established is that ITV removed Gilbert from Big Brother in October 2025 following repeated concerns about his language and behaviour, and that Reform later revoked his membership while referring to comments that could be interpreted as antisemitic.
Gilbert disputes the process and has subsequently become a vocal critic of the party.
The dispute therefore goes beyond one former reality-TV contestant.
As Reform continues to expand its organisation, questions about candidate vetting, membership rules, internal discipline and freedom of expression are likely to become increasingly important.
For Nigel Farage’s party, managing those issues may prove just as significant as attracting new supporters. A rapidly growing political organisation needs not only candidates willing to campaign under its banner, but also clear procedures for deciding when a member’s behaviour crosses the line between personal expression and conduct the party believes could damage its reputation.