It’s been 5 years since ‘David’s dead’, one of reality TV’s most iconic and horrifying moments

It’s been a whole five years since the greatest moment - and biggest misunderstanding - in reality TV happened on Celebrity Big Brother, when Tiffany Pollard mistook David Guest for David Bowie.

Frankly we could all do with a dead David trip down memory lane and a much-needed hilarious distraction, so here’s how the iconic TV blunder unfolded.

When the news broke that David Bowie had tragically died from cancer, his ex-wife Angie was starring in Big Brother alongside Kim Kardashian’s number one pal, Ex on The Beach stars, soap star royalty and Darren Day.

Understandably, Angie turned to one of her closest allies for emotional support, not knowing that metres away, David Gest - the ex-husband of Liza Minelli - was lying in bed, with the covers right over his head, as if he had actually been laid to rest.

Then, the US reality TV star Tiffany Pollard entered the room.

Angie informed her that “David’s dead”, and she crumpled to the floor, wailing in disbelief, before spluttering: “No, he’s not”.

Without waiting for further explanation, she ran to the garden to let her housemates know David Gest had died of cancer.

Of course, the housemates soon found out this wasn’t the case, as Darren pulled back the covers to find Gest alive and well - all whilst Angie was mourning the genuine loss of her former spouse, and father of her child.

The penny drops that Tiffany has been thinking of the wrong David all along, and truly you could not script a better scene.

But Tiffany refused to admit her error, and went on to make matters even worse by insisting Angie had said “David Gest is dead” instead of those infamous two words, leaving viewers utterly perplexed.

In a further ludicrous turn, Gest himself was planning on starting a “David Gest is not Dead tour!” but tragically died from a stroke just months after leaving the Celebrity Big Brother house.

Tiffany had been selling “David’s Dead” T-shirts, to try and rectify her bizarre blunder, but obviously had to sideline that business venture.

Reflecting on the TV moment, Gaz, host of Big Brother on Blast podcast, told Metro.co.uk : “This comedy of errors is an iconic ‘wrong end of the stick’ fiasco that transcends the fleeting nature of reality TV and lives on in our minds, and memes, rent-free. A moment so ridiculous it just couldn’t be written.

“It really was the storyline that kept on giving – a perfect storm that only Big Brother could have created. Surely it’s time for a return to our screens? I’m looking at you Channel 4!”