Controversial influencer Andrew Tate has lost a bid to end his detention in Romania.

The reality TV star and former kickboxer, who was removed from Big Brother in 2016, was detained alongside his brother Tristan while his house was raided in Bucharest.

The Tate brothers have been under investigation since April, alongside two other suspects.

Authorities suspect the pair, along with two Romanian nationals, of running ‘an organised crime group’.

Police will continue to hold the group for their 30-day period, after a court rejected the appeal on Tuesday.

Earlier, Mr Tate was seen carrying what appeared to be a copy of the Quran as he walked into Bucharest Appeal Court handcuffed to his brother.

After the arrests on 29 December, police said they had identified six people who were allegedly ‘sexually exploited’ by what it called an ‘organised criminal group’.

Police alleged the victims were ‘recruited’ by the British citizens, who they said misrepresented their intention to enter into a relationship with the victims – which it called ‘the loverboy method’.

They were later forced to perform in pornographic content under threat of violence, a statement alleged.

The Tates’ lawyer, Eugen Vidineac, has said his clients rejected all the allegations.

Born in the US before moving to the UK, Mr Tate, 36, went on to have a successful career as a kickboxer.

In 2016, he appeared on Big Brother and was removed from the house after a video circulated appearing to show him attacking a woman.

At the time, he claimed it had been edited and described the footage as ‘a total lie trying to make me look bad’.

He has become a controversial figure online, including getting banned from Twitter for saying women should ‘bear responsibility’ for being sexually assaulted, while he has since been reinstated on the platform.

He has also been removed from the likes of YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Earlier this month, he was embroiled in a Twitter row with climate activist Greta Thunberg, who told him to ‘get a life’ after he boasted about owning 33 cars with ‘enormous emissions’.

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