Big Brother star Catrin Richards has revealed she was "really disappointed" that her health battle with Crohn's disease and colitis was not shown on the ITV show. The 23-year-old late arrival, who finished in sixth place, opened up about her condition on Instagram, prompting fans to question why it never aired.
Catrin's health battle
Catrin, who entered the show on Day 20 alongside Twinks Burnett, took to her Instagram story on Monday (November 9) to discuss living with Crohn's disease and colitis. She wrote: "I was really disappointed coming out and seeing that nothing about me talking about my condition was aired :( ."
She added: "I was quite unwell in the last week but wasn't able to get my infusion, the housemates were amazing with me and helped me so much when I physically couldn't do anything for myself."
Fans react
Catrin expressed her desire to raise awareness, saying: "I just really wished they'd shown more of me talking about it, all I've ever wanted to do is raise more awareness around Crohn's and colitis but for some reason it was never shown."
According to the NHS, Crohn's is a long-term illness where part of the gut becomes inflamed, while colitis is where part of the large bowel and rectum become inflamed.
Fans voiced their disappointment on Reddit, with one writing: "It's crazy they never showed anything about Catrin's illness, I would have thought it was a good opportunity to raise awareness about the condition and Catrin would be a really great example for how to live with it."
Another said: "I know there's limits to how much they can show [...] but it seems very strange to me they left out something that would be such a big part of her life, especially as it doesn't seem to have been at her request. Some of the stuff you find out after you do think - why didn't we see that?"
Broader context
One fan argued: "This is why we need live feed!" Another pointed out: "We never got to see her talking about that, twinks talking about her teeth. I wonder what else we never got to see people talking about. I think it's nice to learn things about housemates, it's a good balance for the drama."
Runner-up Twinks recently revealed she wears artificial teeth after a traumatic injury left her with a gap in her smile. Big Brother can be streamed on ITVX.
