“Big Brother” Portugal contestant Hélder Teixera, right, watching footage of himself doing the Nazi salute in front of his housemates. Photo: Screenshot.

A participant of Portugal’s television series “Big Brother,” also called “Duplo Impacto,” was asked to leave the reality show for repeatedly making Nazi salutes in front of his housemates.

While talking to two other members in a bedroom of the “Big Brother” house, Hélder Teixera, 39, jokingly made the gesture popularized by Nazi party leader Adolf Hitler. His peers told him more than once to drop his hand and not do the Nazi salute, but Teixera laughed and proceeded to mimic the Nazi march with his arm raised in the air.

He repeated the joke again days later in another room of the house, in front of more housemates, as shown in footage posted on the Portuguese show’s website on Jan. 28.

The “Big Brother” narrator called all house members into the living room hours later and played on the television a video of a Holocaust survivor talking about the Nazi persecution minorities faced during World War II, including Jews, gypsies and members of the LGBTQ community. The clip also featured footage of Nazi violence, bias against Jews, and people visiting the site of former concentration camps.

Teixera was then confronted regarding his recent actions as the screen began to show him performing the Nazi salute multiple times in the house.

“There are subjects with which you can never joke, you run the risk of downplaying or trivializing them,” the show’s narrator told the house members, according to the Spanish daily La Vanguardia. “The gesture you have made symbolizes millions of deaths.”

“I have already repeated to you many times that you are seen by thousands of people and that you must be aware of what you say and what you do. For all this, Hélder, you are no longer welcome in my house. You are expelled,” he said.

The other contestants were shocked by the severity of Teixera’s punishment and tried to change the host’s mind, but to no avail. Teixera, who was also surprised by the expulsion and tried to reason with “Big Brother,” ultimately put on his jacket and left the show.

This was Teixera’s second time participating in “Big Brother.” He was also part of the 2020 show and returned this year to a special edition that brought together members of past seasons. During his participation in last year’s “Big Brother” he was criticized for uttering homophobic and sexist insults, La Vanguardia reported.