Controversial Hollywood A-lister signs up for Celebrity Big Brother just days before show launch

HOLLYWOOD superstar Mickey Rourke is joining Celebrity Big Brother.

The , 72, is one of the biggest signings in the reality show’s 24-year history as an Oscar nominee with over four decades in showbiz.

As well as a feud with , Mickey has two marriages and a string of high-profile relationships behind him – including with sexy Kim Basinger with whom he famously starred in the movie 9 ½ Weeks.

It means ITV bosses hope he’ll have endless tales to share when he joins the reality series on Monday.

A TV source said: “It’s hard to think of a Big Brother booking as big as Mickey Rourke since the show began.

“Sharon Osbourne was an impressive name last series but a Hollywood icon of Mickey’s standing brings a huge amount of clout.

“The tales that man has to tell will no doubt be legendary and bosses hope it could replicate the success of Sharon last year, who was very loose-lipped when it came to dishing the dirt on famous faces.

“Mickey is also outspoken, with strong views, and isn’t afraid to share them.”

Mickey joins Chesney Hawkes, Corrie star , Love Island‘s and ex-politician Sir Michael Fabricant on Celebrity Big Brother.

The biggest names in CBB history include Jackie Stallone, Dennis Rodman, La Toya Jackson, Ivana Trump and Gary Busey.

Fellow American Macy Gray had been set to go in too,

After storming off UK earlier this year, we exclusively revealed how Macy “decided not to go ahead”.

Mickey hit the big time in 1986 as John Gray in saucy romance 9 ½ Weeks alongside rumoured girlfriend Kim, quickly followed by success in 1987 horror film Angel Heart with Robert De Niro.

It sparked a long-standing feud with the bigger star, with Rourke later insisting it cost him a role in De Niro’s The Irishman.

After a string of commercial failures and gaining a reputation for being difficult on set, in the late Nineties Rourke left acting to return to his roots as a boxer.

In 1991 he said he was “self-destructing”;; and had “no respect for himself as an actor”;;.

In the ring he was undefeated in eight fights and fought worldwide but suffered so many blows, he needed reconstructive surgery on his face – starting a lifelong obsession with cosmetic work.

A return to acting in the late Nineties saw him take small roles alongside Sean Penn, Sylvester Stallone and Jean-Claude Van Damme.

But his real comeback came when he landed the lead in neo-noir action thriller Sin City with Jessica Alba, Benicio del Toro and Bruce Willis.

It began a wave of meaty roles in action flicks, culminating in 2008’s The Wrestler, a role he won a Golden Globe and BAFTA award for as well as an Oscar nomination.

More recently he’s starred in Iron Man 2 and in 2020 he was unmasked as Gremlin on the US Masked Singer.

In 2023 he appeared in Roman Polanski’s drama The Palace.

Away from the screen, Mickey’s been married twice but has no children and in 2022 he told Piers Morgan he had been single for the past seven years.

He’s denounced President Trump as “a bully”;; but has also come under fire for seemingly backing President Putin when he wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the Russian leader’s face.

An ITV spokesman said: “We do not comment on speculation.”;;