Love Island’sDanny Bibby has come under fire from a women’s charity over his behaviour towards Lucinda Strafford for what they perceived as “gaslighting”.
The 25-year-old was dumped from the villa in Wednesday’s episode alongside AJ Bunker after being chosen by the other Islanders to leave.
Prior to exiting the villa he had been coupled up with Lucinda, before they decided to go their separate ways.
Women’s Aid has now come forward to say that they thought Danny’s behaviour towards Lucinda showed “possessiveness and manipulation”.
Teresa Parker, Head of Media and Communications at Women’s Aid said: “Our team at Women’s Aid watched Danny and Lucinda’s relationship develop and became increasingly concerned with his behaviour towards her on screen, including what looked like gaslighting, possessiveness, and manipulation.
“This is clearly not what a healthy relationship looks like, and these are all tactics used by perpetrators of abuse.”
They added: “Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse which makes someone question their perception of reality and can be used to confuse, exhaust and control the victim.
“More widely, coercive control, which is a persistent pattern of controlling, coercive and threatening behaviour, has been a criminal offence since 2015 – you do not have to be hit to be abused in a relationship.
“We urge the producers of Love Island to recognise the signs of abusive behaviour when it is happening on the show, as this is not the first time it has happened. Abuse should not be used for entertainment, and producers need to know when to step in.”
It comes after fans at home also raised concerns that new boy Danny was showing several red flags after he mocked the blonde bombshell’s voice and confronted her for “mugging him off” after only a day in the villa.
(Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
That was on top of the staggering backlash that Danny’s entrance received after a historic Instagram comment was found where he used a racial slur.
The show was hit with more than 1,500 Ofcom complaints and the criticism was so strong that Danny’s father Richard quit Instagram after jumping to his son’s defence.
Danny apologised for the slur from the villa, saying he “meant no offence” and has “learnt from his mistakes”.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
