Kickboxer Andrew Tate has claimed he was removed from the Big Brother house because of a video of him “hitting a girl with a belt”.

The 29-year-old, who was originally among a group of contestants known as The Others, said a tabloid had got hold of a “kinky” video from 2012 which had been “edited” to remove the laughter of his unnamed consenting partner.

Outraged fans took to Twitter to complain about his eviction.

The four-time world kickboxing champion, from Chicago, had previously released a now-deleted Facebook video in which he claimed producers decided it was “too risky” for him to stay after housemates made threats to hit him since he entered the main house on Saturday.

In a video message which did little to shed light on his departure, he said: “They (producers) were saying to me: ‘Look, if one of those takes a swing at you please don’t hit back because you would destroy them, you would annihilate them. You’re a pro fighter. These are people who think they can fight, please don’t hit them back’.

“And they decided my new plan was just too risky and I had to leave, so enjoy the show without me.”

Andrew Tate (Channel 5)
Andrew Tate was removed from the Big Brother house on Monday (Channel 5)

A spokeswoman for Big Brother said his claims were “completely false” and he was “removed because of information which came to light today”.

Big Brother sparked more than 250 complaints to Ofcom after Sunday’s episode showed housemates Marco Pierre White Jr and Laura Carter playing a sex game during which she strangled him with a belt.