Complaints over homophobic comments made by Celebrity Big Brother contestant Winston McKenzie

More than 350 complaints have been received about homophobic remarks made by Celebrity Big Brother contestant Winston McKenzie.

During Tuesday’s launch show, Channel 5 showed the former Ukip spokesman and London mayoral hopeful discussing how he would handle homosexual housemates.

In the pre-recorded footage, he said: “I don’t know how I’d cope with a homosexual in the house. I guess I’d have to be standing against a wall all the time.”

Fellow housemates John Partridge and Christopher Maloney are openly gay.

An Ofcom spokesman said 352 complaints were received: “We will assess these before deciding whether to investigate or not.”

On Wednesday’s show, McKenzie turned his attention to immigration in a conversation with David Gest.

“I don’t work with the system. I’m off the wall... Nobody’s saying we don’t want immigration. All that people are saying is: Control it. Get sensible.”

McKenzie found an ally in US producer, who said: “I like you, I respect you, that’s the truth... We’ll continue this. This will be continued. We’ve got a while here.”

However Jonathan Cheban, a PR guru and friend of Kim Kardashian, was in a separate room, and said: “By the way, just so you know, I don’t survive conversations like that. I get up and go.”