Women’s Aid has urged ITV to act over George Fensom, one of the stars of Love Island 2023, who has allegedly acted in a “controlling” way to previous partners.
Before George, 24, even entered the villa, he issued an apology after fans found old tweets from when he was 15 which used homophobic slurs. George said the tweets are “not who he is today”. But the TV hopeful has now found himself in more hot water.
In a Tiktok video, one of his ex-girlfriends claimed he was a “narcissist”. Another ex-girlfriend, Katie Hewitt, 24, also called for George to be axed from Love Island.
One of George’s ex-girlfriends claims their relationship gave her PTSD
Katie dated George for 18 months after first meeting him in 2017. She claimed in The Sun that George controlled what she ate and wore. She added he made her feel “worthless”. Katie also alleged George cheated on her. She claimed he would scream abuse at her in public.
Katie said that the relationship was “lovely” at the beginning, but six months in the alleged abuse began. She said: “I was terrified to speak out. But I hope I can show why it’s important for women to have a voice and not let men like George win.”
It is vital that contestants are safe in relationships formed on the show.
Women’s Aid then shared a statement with Metro about the severity of the claims. Teresa Parker, Head of Media, Brand and Relationships at Women’s Aid, said: “Considering the amount of concern that viewers have raised about unacceptable behaviour in relationships during previous series of Love Island, at Women’s Aid we hope that the producers will be taking these allegations of controlling behaviour seriously, and looking into them as part of their due diligence.”
The statement continued: “We know only too well that people who can be abusive can be charming and convincing in public. They are able to manipulate others into disbelieving allegations. We know from speaking with the team at Love Island that they have recently introduced guidance and training around mutually respectful behaviour in relationships for incoming Islanders, and information on controlling and coercive behaviour. We hope this will help inform how this situation is handled. It is vital that contestants are safe in relationships formed on the show. They should not be exposed to potential partners who have previously been abusive in relationships.”
Love Island: George Fensome’s family responds
In response, George’s family released a statement defending him. The statement read: “This is a one-sided account of a relationship George had six years ago when he was 18. This is not behaviour we recognise. These claims are false, unjustified and hurtful. George would absolutely refute these. It has been very upsetting to see our son labelled using such damaging terms. George only ever wanted to end this amicably and move on in a civil manner. It is very sad it has come to this.”
They then concluded the statement by asking viewers to give him a chance to prove “he is not the person he is being portrayed to be”.
ITV’s statement
A representative for ITV directed Entertainment Daily to a statement on George where it was confirmed they had spoken to George about the allegations.
The statement reads: “The safeguarding and ongoing welfare of our contributors is always the top priority. As part of our duty of care process, all Islanders undergo a psychological evaluation prior to being selected for the show, and we also stipulate that all Islanders participate in our training programme around language and behaviour – this is a very important part of our pre-entry procedure.”
It continues: “We have zero tolerance of any discriminatory language in the villa and we speak to all of the islanders to remind them of what we condone to be acceptable behaviour during their time on the show. They are also spoken to daily by our welfare team to ensure they remain comfortable in their relationships.”
Read more: OPINION: Let’s save ourselves eight weeks and crown the obvious Love Island winners now
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