That clears that up, kind of
A Love Island contestant who recently exited the villa has revealed why Gemma Owen’s dad, footballer Michael Owen, has not been mentioned during the show.
After Love Island kicked off in early June, many fans dubbed the show “Gemma’s Island” as she seemingly had more screen time than the rest of the cast. Despite the attention very much being on Gemma, the fact her father is famous has not come up.
But according to Afia Tonkmor, who was the second person to exit the show after Liam Llewellyn, people in the villa just don’t care about Gemma’s dad.
“Do they know who Gemma’s dad is?” questioned a fan during a Q&A session on Instagram.
“If people do know – I did know before I went in because I watched her VT – but if they do know they don’t care, nobody really cares,” she replied. “I don’t know who he is. I know he’s a football guy. It was never, ever spoke about in my presence.”
Fans of the show have suggested that the 42-year-old former England captain may have paid ITV to keep their mouth shut.
“If her family paid [ ITV ] money not to air [Gemma talking about Michael], then we won’t see it. I think it’s pretty obvious that some sort of deal was struck regarding her time on the island,” one fan theorised.
Not another episode of Gemma’s Island #LoveIsland pic.twitter.com/zoWSWyQP10
— CEO of Yelling (@ChantayyJayy) June 13, 2022
Llewellyn, 19, found out about Gemma’s dad during his exit interview on Aftersun.
“I can’t believe who that actually was,” he laughed. “That’s mad. I’m a Newcastle United fan. I actually have one of his tops when he came to the club.”
He added: “That first night, we were chatting about football and her family. I was so close. I can’t believe I didn’t quite work it out.”
Related links:
- Love Island star reveals ketamine addiction and domestic abuse after show ‘portrayed her as a monster’
- Michael Owen trolled on Channel 4 over teenage daughter’s debut on Love Island
- Love Island’s male contestants face backlash over ‘homophobic reaction’ to two women kissing
