Joey Essex admitted he quizzed Love Island producers over the way he was dumped from the show.
Reality TV legend Joey, 33, was given the boot from the show with just hours to go until the final. In shocking scenes for ITV viewers, Joey was kicked off the show after a jury of former Islanders chose him to be dumped.
In a brutal exit, Joey and the other Islanders were left stunned as he and Jessy Potts was told to pack his bags and leave the sun-soaked villa in Majorca. Now back in the UK, Joey has revealed he confronted ITV bosses about the way in which he was booted off the show.
READ MORE: Love Island fans spot ‘awkward’ encounter between Maya Jama and Stormzy’s pal
READ MORE: Join the Daily Star Soaps WhatsApp for all the latest spoilers and exclusives
Speaking to The Sun in his first post-Love Island interview, Joey admitted he felt that producers had put him in the show as a “plant” to be the first ever celebrity Islander to go in as a bombshell. He also hit back at comments that branded him a “bully” during his time on the show.
(Image: ITV)
He explained that despite doing his best to entertain and stir up drama, when he discovered a number of his former Islanders would decide who would be dumped, he knew his game was up. Following his dumping, he went to producers and exclaimed: “What the hell?”
Joey said: “If you want to talk about bullying – in that moment, the finger pointing at me, it not being about compatibility at all, it was all personal, all towards Joey, and sit there and take that. You know, if there’s one bit of advice I could give producers is never put a rookie, a young Islander or anyone, in the position that I was in when I got dumped on Love Island, because it could have been a different story.”
He went on to appeal for calm from viewers, and reminded them that he is “human”. Going on to brand the dumping “savage”, Joey said that being given the boot from the show in such a public manner was “very, very difficult to take”, adding: “It hurt a lot.”
(Image: ITV)
Recalling his conversation with producers after the show, Joey recalled: “It’s like, why did you do that? Could have got me out a better way!”
Joey was given the chop just one day before the final, but raised suspicions on his motivations for being in the villa when a number of his former flames walked in, including ex-flame Grace Jackson. But looking back on his time on the show, Joey said that it was an experience he will not forget.
(Image: joeyessex/Instagram)
“I wasn’t there to ever win; you know, if someone wants to win, they don’t do the journey I did – you go a different way about it,” he said. “I just was there to entertain, find love and have a great time.”
Joey also admitted he did controversial things in the villa to stir up drama for the sake of producers, who have been clear since the show started in 2015 that production does meddle from time to time. He went on to say that had he have stayed with the first person he coupled up with for the whole show, he would be classed as “boring”.
For more of the latest showbiz and TV news from the Daily Star, make sure you sign up for one of our newsletters here.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
