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TOWIE hunk Mario Falcone was at the centre of a slap storm last night after whacking model Sophie Anderton.

Celebrity Big Brother bosses stepped in immediately to make sure the fight did not spiral out of control.

And Mario, 25, was hauled in front of producers who warned him his behaviour was over the top.

The couple’s antics grew more aggressive during the incident late on Monday night in scenes which will not be revealed on telly.

TV bosses were terrified there would be a repeat of the “nutgate” scandal between Daley Ojuederie and Hazel O’Sullivan which rocked the last regular Big Brother series.

Mario and Sophie had been larking together in the garden playfighting, in the same way Daley and Hazel’s flirtatiously sparred.

But when the pair started whacking each other, Mario hit Sophie so hard she complained.

Curvy Sophie, 36, even told the hunk: “That’s a bit too hard.”

Within minutes Channel 5 bosses stepped in.

Mario was read the riot act in the Diary Room about the show’s rules concerning “acceptable behaviour”.

The red-faced star said: “We were just *******ing around and having fun.”

On the last series of Big Brother, boxer Daley, 28, was removed from the house after slapping Hazel, 24, on the bum, grabbing her by the throat and threatening to nut her.

Police are now investigating whether to charge him with assault.

Sophie, who was also called to the Diary Room and asked about how she felt about the incident, admitted her housemate whacked her harder than she had expected.

But she said: “He did it a little bit too hard. They think this is serious but we were playing around. We were play fighting.”

Yesterday the pair shied away from talking about what had happened.

But Sophie confided to Lauren Harries, 35: “We got in massive trouble for that last night.”

TOWIE star Mario has admitted he has the hots for Sophie. He told her: “Sophie, if you were single, different story, trust me, you’re awesome.”

This is the third time in as many days that one of the celebrities has landed in trouble with bosses.

Loose Women star Carol McGiffin, 53, got a warning when she used the N-word in a conversation.

Sports pundit Ron Atkinson, 74, was also warned when he made an anti-Muslim joke.

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/tv/big-br...o-inside-house