RACE ROW
Love Island in new race row as furious fans complain to Ofcom
LOVE Island has been hit with a number of Ofcom complaints from viewers claiming Zara Lackenby-Brown was the victim of bullying and discriminatory behaviour.
The TV watchdog said it had received 122 complaints in its report dated February 1 related to scenes of "alleged racism and bullying towards her".
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The complaints have not come from Zara herself, nor are they being investigated by Ofcom, but a further 78 viewers have also made complaints related to "alleged manipulative and misogynistic behaviour from other contestants".
And 59 out of those complaints were from fans accusing contestant Tom Clare of "alleged aggressive behaviour".
When contacted by The Sun, Love Island said: "We have dedicated welfare producers and psychological support on hand at all times who monitor and regularly speak to all of the Islanders in private and off camera.
"All the Islanders are therefore fully supported by the professionals on site and by their friends in the Villa."
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Zara also told Aftersun viewers at the weekend that she had no regrets of her time on the show, including her coupling with Tom.
"I regret nothing, honestly. Our connection was completely mutual," she insisted.
Her family have also dismissed any suggestion she had been bullied.
"She is a very strong woman who knows her own mind - she can handle the drama," her brother told
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Dancer and model Zara left the villa last week during a recoupling when Tom, who was caught in a love triangle with Zara and Olivia Hawkins, refused to save her from being dumped.
Bombshell Zara had grown close to the footballer during her time on the show before a game in which he was asked to make his dream girlfriend out of three islanders.
Tom chose Olivia Hawkins for her face, Zara for her body and Lana Jenkins for her personality, leaving Zara in tears.
Ellie Spence later shared a secret kiss with Tom which sparked another row, after Zara told Olivia about the kiss.
Following her exit, Zara revealed she was left in tears again when "fuming" Tom had confronted her moments before the truth or dare challenge and said the row never made it on screen.
She said: "Back story, before that started he actually came at me and was accusing me of things that I think were being stirred in the villa ... I was going in to that night like, 'I hope Tom likes my hair, my dress.'
"We was solid all day, we were literally talking about going to go to Dubai and doing all this. We were great.
"Then when we were walking out just before the challenge he was accusing me of things, he was like, 'I've heard this, I've heard this' and I was really upset.
"I didn't know that this hadn't made it to air. Because context wise that is really important. He basically came at me and he was fuming."
She further explained: "I was at the firepit with the girls and he was like, 'Zara, come.'
"We walked over to the back bit where the boys usually do their morning debrief, and he was like, 'I'm fuming, I'm fuming.'
"I went to touch his shoulder, he shrugged me off, I was genuinely like, 'What has happened? We've been so good.'
"He said he had heard at the beginning, 'When you were talking to Shaq you were doing it to make you jealous.'"
Defending herself, Zara continued: "First of all, what?
"You were chatting to Liv, I had to get to know everyone. And I said I naturally vibe more with you, Shaq, he was from my area, we do get on.
"This is where I saw a bit of a red flag with Tom, if you can't calmly communicate. He came at me with all this stuff. It was hearsay, gossip and he was taking it as fact. It was frustrating for me."
However, speaking to Grazia she also said their feelings were mutual and discussed their spark.
"Our feelings towards each other were mutual and he admitted he had never had a spark with someone so quickly on the outside," she said.
"That's the thing with Tom, I think he’s too concerned about how people see him instead of just doing what he wants to do and what's right. He's too focused on being the nice guy."
Last week, we told how the show had become embroiled in a bullying row and tensions reached boiling point during a controversial game of truth or dare.
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Love Island continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2.
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