Housemates react to Josie's exit

The housemates have reacted to Josie's decision to leave Ultimate Big Brother.

BB11 winner Josie quit the show after she burst through the fire escape at around 3:20pm. Channel 4 has since confirmed that she will not return.

Josie had been struggling with the decision of whether to leave the house after becoming upset and confided that she felt out of place with the new celebrity housemates.

She had also admitted that the varied opinions of her relationship with John James put to her by the Ultimate housemates had left her feeling uncertain about his true feelings for her.

After all housemates had been informed by Brian that Josie had left, Ulrika suggested that it felt like the end of the show already.

"I think it's tragic to have this two and a half months and then this final, the winner needs to be here," Ulrika said. "I really don't think there's any point in being here now."

"She would have been the ultimate anyway," Brian said, suggesting that Josie would have won Ultimate Big Brother had she stayed.

Preston praised Josie for "having the bottle to do it" and Chantelle mused that she had simply reached her limit.

Channel 4 reports that on leaving the house through the camera runs, Josie immediately ran and hugged John James, who had been filming in Elstree Studios next door to the house.