ITV Big Brother star brands NHS ‘a religious cult’ in frosty house debate as fans divided

“So obviously I’m from Derry and I say I’m Irish or whatever", she explained to Ms Hewertson, 25, “But say if it actually came down to it and it was like ‘Vote for United Ireland’, I don’t know if I’d vote.”

Her remark was met with applause from her fellow housemate, who responded: “My kind of woman.”

Ms Hewertson, who works for a political events company in Westminster and joined the Conservative Party when she was 16, then added: “You should tell your friends not to vote, too."

Ms Baird explained her reasoning, saying: “I’m only young. I don’t know a lot about it, but with the NHS etc., Dublin doesn’t get that.”

The political influencer replied: “Tell me about it, Northern Ireland are very prosperous under the British government, more than they would be otherwise, I’m just saying.

"I don’t think the NHS should be the dream. Don’t get me wrong, it’s amazing, but compared to some other European health systems, it’s a bit below par.”

Ms Baird pushed back, insisting: “See, I think the NHS is brilliant.”

But the events worker doubled down, saying: “It’s become a religious cult, unfortunately.”

The conversation quickly went viral on social media, with some viewers accusing Ms Hewertson of being “patronising” and “uninformed” about both the Irish political landscape and the state of the NHS.

"I keep trying to like Emily and then she comes out with these statements and opinions on things that are (in my opinion) outdated," penned one fan of the reality TV show.

Another said: "The NHS has been mismanaged and underfunded, it is still a huge privilege to have, but that’s all Emily has known and she doesn’t appreciate it."

A third viewer added: "Wonder how many people who work for the NHS are voting Emily to win?"

Others defended Ms Hewertson's comments as “honest” and said the debate reflected what people really think but are too afraid to say.

"Both of them are correct," one viewer wrote, while another agreed: "We were all thinking it."

Clips of the exchange have now been viewed thousands of times across X and TikTok, reigniting wider discussions around Northern Ireland’s relationship with the UK and the future of the health service under the Labour government.

This incident echoes previous, politically charged moments between the two contestants.

In another Big Brother episode this week, Ms Hewertson sparked a heated discussion within the house after arguing that council buildings should only fly the national flag.

Speaking as housemates prepared food together, the politics enthusiast said: “Councils and other state-owned institutions should only be allowed to fly the regional and national flag.”

When asked to clarify, she added: “Councils shouldn’t be able to fly flags of other countries, or flags for social movements.”

Ms Baird responded: “So Derry hangs a Palestine flag, you think it shouldn’t be allowed?”

“Yeah, I just think in this country, if it’s a state-owned institution, it should only be our flag,” Ms Hewertson replied.

Pressed further, she said: “What about Ukraine? I think no. We can show our support in other ways. What does a flag show?”

“It just shows you support them, like a Palestine flag,” Ms Baird answered, to which Ms Hewertson countered: “Yeah, but councils should be neutral on things like that.”

After the clip was shared on Big Brother’s official Instagram, viewers were quick to weigh in.

Some viewers questioned why the influencer “cares so much”, but others agreed with her, saying that “she didn’t say anything bad”.