Celebrity Big Brother's new farce: Housemates thought David Gest, not David Bowie, had died

Mix-up: David Bowie and Celebrity Big Brother contestant David Gest. Photos / Getty Images

The makers of Celebrity Big Brother in the UK have been accused of exploiting the death of singer David Bowie after airing scenes of "hysterical" behaviour by housemates.

Britain's TV watchdog received more hundreds of complaints about the show's coverage of Bowie's death and the reaction of his ex-wife Angie, who is one of the contestants.

Scenes of the housemates screaming at each other after a misunderstanding over who had actually died attracted the most complaints.

One of the contestants, US reality TV star Tiffany Pollard, ended up in hysterics after mishearing Angie Bowie's news that her ex-husband had died.

Angie, who was married to Bowie for 10 years, was told off camera that the singer had died from cancer, before deciding to remain in the CBB house.

After initially agreeing to keep Bowie's death secret, she ended up confiding in Pollard. "You gotta do me a favour, you can't say a word. David's dead."

Pollard had thought she was talking about fellow housemate David Gest and she went on to tell other contestants that Gest had died.

Pollard then discovered Gest was alive and in bed and started screaming about Angie, accusing her of being "sick".