Kim Woodburn, who has died at the age of 83, found fame relatively late in life alongside co-star Aggie McKenzie in Channel 4 show How Clean is Your House. But when the show ended in 2009 following a six-year run, it was just the start for the acerbic star, who went on to create some of television’s most memorable moments with her no-holds barred opinions.
Love her or hate her, Woodburn called a spade a spade in a celebrity world where being two-faced is arguably a survival technique. It earned her a new following on social media and had her in demand for custom videos and appearances at Pride events. Her status as a “hun” – a British subculture involving the “stanning” of camp female pop and reality TV stars – saw her become the subject of several gifs and memes.
Probably Woodburn’s best-known outburst was her “You’re an adulterer!” soap queen-style moment from Celebrity Big Brother, with the ensuing row resulting in the star being temporarily removed from the house. Having taken aim at former footballer Jamie O’Hara, Woodburn also fell out with Nicola McClean, calling her “Miss Insecure” and “vile” and a “horrible, horrible girl”.
Bad hair days. We’ve all been there. But when you’re in the jungle, that humidity takes it all to another level. During her time on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2009, Woodburn gained a lot of attention after she became outraged over her hair products being confiscated. “My hair plays a big part in my career,” she explained. “I earn money with this hairstyle, it’s my trademark.”
Woodburn went on to discuss her time in the Celebrity Big Brother show on This Morning shortly after her stint in the house. She said her fellow housemates lived “in stink and filth”. “Don’t be cheeky, don’t be naughty,” she then quipped, when former presenter Philip Schofield asked her what she was paid to go on the show. “I have not gone one second in my life for bull,” she added.
Woodburn also appeared on Channel 4 show Come Dine With Me, where contestants have their co-stars around to their house for a home-cooked three-course meal. She wasn’t the first person to get a bit squiffy on the show, memorably struggling to pronounce “mascarpone” at Claire Sweeney’s dinner party. In the taxi on the way home, Kim gave viewers her boozy verdict: “The food, okay, the vodka, lovely.”
Woodburn had the rare ability to be both outrageous and oddly profound – like a foul-mouthed oracle in marigolds. “I want genuine people in my life, not [idiots],” she said once, using a slightly stronger word than that – a mission statement Woodburn lived by. She wasn’t afraid to invoke bedroom activity on occasion. In one moment of affectionate overshare, she said: “My husband was a goer, y’know… ooh, he was a goer that man!”
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