SHAMED Big Brother contestant Michael "Ashley" Cox has apologised to Australia for causing any offence - but he maintains he did not do anything wrong when he rubbed his groin in the face of housemate Camilla Halliwell.
Cox, 20, said he was horrified after initial reports labelled the incident - which saw him "turkey slap" Halliwell while she was restrained in bed by fellow housemate Michael "John" Bric - an alleged sexual assault.
"I felt sick when I heard that," he said.
"I would never hurt a woman.
"Sexual assault to me is where someone has actually been assaulted and I didn't feel Camilla was assaulted at all.
"It was just a joke - a fun gesture with no malice - with someone I've been living with 24 hours a day for 70 days. There was nothing sexual in it.
"The whole thing was totally blown out of proportion."
Cox - who was removed from the compound with Bric, 21, by producers 12 hours after last week's Saturday morning incident - said he did not feel he did anything wrong to his female housemate.
"If I have offended anyone - especially any women around Australia - I am very sorry," he said. "If Camilla considers it to be wrong, then I will definitely apologise to her. We never felt she was ever distressed in any way or angry - she was laughing with us and tickling me and John afterwards.
"We're such good friends and if Camilla had it her way, we would have stayed in the house."
The self-employed suburban Perth bricklayer, who returns to work tomorrow, said he was distressed and angry about being forced out of the house and missing out on saying goodbye to his friends.
He said the program's handling of the incident, which proved a publicity boon, had severely damaged his reputation.
"If they didn't make it an issue by kicking us out, it wouldn't be such a big deal," he said.
"Last year, two similar incidents occurred and both of them didn't get kicked out. They (producers) could have put Michael and I both up for eviction and seen if our actions made voters want us to be out of the house.
"I don't want to be known as the sleazy guy from Big Brother. I'm just an everyday bloke who made one mistake that everybody is judging him on - I feel very embarrassed.
"I hope people will judge me for the whole 10 weeks and think 'this guy's not too bad', rather than on the one little stuff-up."
He said he was shocked that the incident had prompted widespread criticism and calls for the program to be taken off the air. "I was dumbfounded when I heard about John Howard and the other politicians getting involved and wanting to scrap Big Brother," he said.
"It's just a reality TV show."
Cox, who has had counselling sessions with the show's psychologist every day since being booted off the program, counted the fall-out as one of the worst experiences of his life.
"Emotionally, it has been very stressful - you are in the house all lovey-dovey with everyone and then, bang, you're out the next minute," he said.
"It has been a rollercoaster - not to the stage where I was crying and heartbroken, but pretty close.
"I definitely do feel robbed - if I'd stayed in there, I could have won and it would have made my life a lot easier. I've come out of the house in more debt than when I went in, with the mortgage and car repayments and all the bills.
"I would have liked a change in my profession but under the circumstances, I think it has ruined my chances now."
Cox, who missed out on the prizes given to each housemate after eviction, is yet to find out whether he and Bric will be allowed to take part in the show's upcoming reunion finale episode.
One thing is for sure - Cox will never "turkey-slap" anyone ever again. "It was a first and, obviously, it's going to be a last - that's a lesson I've learned," he laughed.
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