Katie Hopkins has been deported from Australia over her ‘naked’ quarantine boasts – here’s what Twitter thinks

First Twitter, now a TV show and an actual country – Katie Hopkins has a dazzling ability to get herself booted from places and platforms.

The controversial right-wing commentator has been deported from Australia, after she bragged about flouting the country’s Covid rules.

On Tuesday morning (local time), she shared a now-deleted selfie telling supporters she would never be “silenced” after being sent back to the UK.

In the caption to her post, she wrote: “See you in the morning, my lovelies.

“You may ‘deport’ the Hopkins, but you cannot silence the truth. We will fight to TAKE BACK our freedoms.”

_katie_hopkins_/Instagram

The former Apprentice star touched down in Oz last week to appear on a celebrity version of Big Brother, and was immediately placed under two weeks of quarantine in a government-mandated hotel.

However, on Friday, she posted an (also now-deleted) Instagram live video boasting that she was deliberately rebelling against the regulations by taunting guards.

Offering up an image that no-one wants to envisage, the 46-year-old said she also planned to “lie in wait” for staff to deliver food to her room so that she could open the door “naked, with no face mask”.

Australian rules dictate people in quarantine are not permitted to open their door until 30 seconds after their meals have been delivered, and must wear masks when their doors are open (and presumably clothes, too).

On Monday, the country’s government ordered her deportation and Big Brother producers confirmed she’d been axed from the show.

Meanwhile, here’s how Twitter reacted to news of the British commentator’s latest controversy:

On Monday, Australia’s Home Affairs minister Karen Andrews hit out at the 46-year-old’s behaviour.

She told the country’s Broadcasting Corporation (ABC): “It’s appalling that this individual behaved the way that she did and she will be leaving.”

“We will be getting her out of the country as soon as we can arrange that. The fact that she was out there boasting about breaching quarantine was just appalling.

“It was a slap in the face for all those Australians who are currently in lockdown and it’s just unacceptable behaviour.”

The fallout comes as the nation battles a Covid surge which has led to its two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, being placed into lockdown.

A day earlier, the Seven Network – which airs Big Brother VIP in Australia – confirmed that Hopkins would not feature in the forthcoming season.

It said in a statement: “Seven Network and Endemol Shine Australia confirm that Katie Hopkins is not part of Big Brother VIP.

“Seven and Endemol Shine strongly condemn her irresponsible and reckless comments in hotel quarantine.”

Local media reported that Hopkins would leave the country immediately, with the Daily Mirror claiming that she had been spotted at Sydney airport, wearing a mask, on Monday afternoon local time.

Hopkins’s arrival in  Australia had already created a backlash, after the government last week halved the number of Australian citizens and permanent residents permitted to return home each week to 3,000 – a move aimed at reducing the risk of the virus leaking from hotel quarantine.

More than 34,000 Australians who are seeking to return home remain stranded overseas.

A Change.org petition titled “#SendHopkinsHome” racked up 32,126 signatures wthinin two days of being launched, as citizens fumed that she’d been allowed in while their loved-ones were kept waiting.

In an update posted after news of the deportation, its creator – Melbourne resident Emma Powell – wrote:

“I’m so proud that collectively, we made an impact on the discourse. This just goes to show, that our voices matter and they make a difference.

“She’s not on a plane yet but I will raise my glass to all of you when she finally leaves.

However, the questions that still remain:

1. Why was she allowed to enter in the first place and who gave her the stamp of approval?
2. Why did Channel 7 & Endemol Shine hire her when they knew what her ideology was?
3. What can we do about 2 & 3?

“I’ll keep you in the loop if there’s any more action we can take to hold them accountable. But in the meantime give yourselves a round of applause and to counter Hopkins’ hate, check out this new petition, and let’s keep making positive change together.”

Australia’s immigration minister Alex Hawke on Sunday said the country’s border force had begun an investigation into Hopkins’s actions.

He said in a statement:

Seven people have been deported since May last year for contravening pandemic-related directives, the Australian Border Force (ABF) reports.

“All visa holders, whether permanent or temporary, who are in Australia during a pandemic situation are expected to abide by all public health directives issued by both Commonwealth and state and territory jurisdictions,” it said in a statement on Monday.

“A breach of these directions is considered a potential risk to the health, safety or good order of the Australian community.”