"The Perez Show was a defence mechanism" says Celebrity Big Brother evictee Perez Hilton
The celebrity blogger says his controversial antics were an attempt "to protect myself and my heart"
In years to come, when fans look back on Celebrity Big Brother, they'll remind each other of the winter 2015 series by saying "You know – The Perez Show..."
Whatever you think of Perez Hilton's antics – the songs, the dances, the relentless shrieking, the goading of fellow housemates, all usually introduced by the phrase "This is The Perez Show" – they've created some of the most memorable moments of a vintage series.
But while many viewers – not to mention Perez's fellow housemates – believe it's all been simply an effort to raise the celebrity blogger's profile, feed his ego and generally make Big Brother all about him, Perez has come out with a different story...
"The Perez Show I created as a defence mechanism," he told host Emma Willis in an exit interview, after becoming the second casualty, behind Kavanagh, of Wednesday night's double eviction.
"Pretty early on I started getting a lot of negative energy from the people in that house so I did it to protect myself, and protect my heart. So whenever The Perez Show was on, it was me, but it was a way of not allowing myself to be hurt. It was like putting a guard up. It was covering my heart in a seal.
"People probably didn’t get that in the house..."
Celebrity Big Brother continues at 9pm tonight with the final at the same time on Friday