Warning over 'gorilla' coat

Pete Burns in his 'gorilla' coat
11 April 2012
The Weekender

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Celebrity Big Brother contestant Pete Burns could face jail over his "gorilla-skin" coat, a Government minister warned today

The Dead Or Alive star claims his fur coat is made from the endangered animals.

Now the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has stepped in to say Burns may face "serious consequences" if this turns out to be true.

Trading in endangered species carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and an unlimited fine.

Biodiversity Minister Jim Knight said: "Gorilla skins belong on gorillas, not on reality TV show contestants. Gorillas are critically endangered, and any promotion of gorilla products in this country can only put these amazing creatures in further peril.

"If this is in fact a gorilla skin, there may be serious consequences.

"Any gorilla skin acquired after June 1947 would require an exemption permit, which would be highly unlikely to be granted. Equally, any gorilla skins or other products brought into this country require an import permit."

The coat has already sparked a furious row with fellow housemate Jodie Marsh.

When surgically-enhanced singer Burns said he was offended by Marsh's autobiography, in which she spilled details about her ex-boyfriends, the glamour girl retorted: "Well, I think it's low that you wear a monkey coat. It offends me every time I see it on your back."

Burns hit back: "That thrills me. I get off on the fact that my coat offends someone who put her boyfriend's dirty underwear in a book. I'm thrilled.

"I wish I had a sable coat and a chinchilla dressing gown and every other fur I could lay my hands on."

Meanwhile there was panic this morning when the house ran out of toilet paper.
George Galloway alerted the housemates to the crisis.

"I'm looking for toilet paper," the MP said grimly after a visit to the bathroom.

Actress Rula Lenska was aghast.

"That is true humiliation," she said. "In Poland before communism fell, if you were in a nightclub you had to ask for two sheets of paper and have to pay for them. And if you wanted to do something more than a wee, you had to go through the humiliation of saying two sheets is not enough."

Michael Barrymore had a suggestion: "I suppose I could cut up some carpet tiles and use those."

But Faria Alam - fresh from the revelation she once urinated in a boyfriend's tea - had words of warning.

"Flushing carpet down the toilet isn't a good idea," she told him.

Jodie Marsh had other concerns today - she is desperate for a cuddle.

The glamour girl has flirted with Dennis Rodman and admitted to a crush on Preston.

But she complained to Chantelle: "I just want them to bring a fit bloke in here.

"The reason I'd want one really is because I'm always surrounded by men, my boy mates, and we're always cuddling. I miss that. I don't feel there's anyone in here that I can cuddle up with."

"Dennis'll cuddle you," suggested Chantelle.

Jodie told her: "Yeah, but that's different. When he cuddles he's just perving."

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