Love Island fans claim Tasha is being ‘bullied’ by the boys and urge TV bosses to step in

ITV
Lisa McLoughlin 18 July 2022
The Weekender

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Love Island viewers claimed the villa’s boys are bullying Tasha Ghouri and have urged show bosses intervene after Sunday’s Movie Night episode.

Many were left uncomfortable as they watched Luca Bish repeatedly goad Tasha after scenes involving her boyfriend Andrew Le Page, getting up close and personal with contestant Coco Lodge, were aired.

One particular clip saw Luca encouraging several of the boys to crack on with other women while they were separated from their partners during the Casa Amor relationship challenge.

The 23-year-old said to Andrew, "Tasha who?" after the estate agent showed his interest in Coco Lodge.

Luca then repeated the line directly to model Tasha as she reacted to the clip, having witnessed them for the first time.

Dami Hope was seen laughing at the actions that rocked Tasha and Andrew’s romance.

Later in the episode, Luca was seen chatting to Tasha while she was with Andrew at the fire pit and tried to downplay his comments.

Tasha cut him short, insisting that it wasn’t "deep" and she hadn’t been bothered by it.

Despite her denial, some viewers believed her response was a coping mechanism and claimed she was now so used to “bullying” comments in the villa that she has normalised it.

Unimpressed by their behaviour, one viewer penned: "My heart actually hurts for Tasha bro she’s literally getting bullied by the boys."

Others wrote: "I do think @LoveIslandproducers need to pull the boys aside and caution them on the way they speak to the ladies!”

“It’s disturbing to watch! Now that Jacques is gone, we are now seeing how horrible they actually are! Especially towards Tasha and Ekin Su #LoveIsland."

"They bullied Tasha all season and they literally won’t stop."

The online commentary comes after Tasha’s dad took aim at vile trolls who have been making cruel ableist comments about the islander.

The 23-year-old is the ITV2 show’s first-ever deaf contestant and wears a cochlear implant, a small electronic device that stimulates the nerve used for hearing, to help her hear.

In recent episodes, the dancer has been left upset following the public vote and her dad said their family have been receiving ableist abuse aimed at the islander online.

Taking to Instagram, Tasha’s dad Tarek spoke out about the nasty commentary as he shared a photo of his daughter as a young girl dressed as a fairy.

He wrote: “Despite the negativity she was successful before she went in and she will be successful when she comes out.

“We talked about the possible negativity and if you think you are prepared for it you are not. Negativity is not what we do in this family so it is a bit of a shock but more so is the ablest comments like last night when someone described her as a ‘deaf w***e’.

“Tash wanted to do it to represent and show deaf kids, teens and adults that they have nothing to fear by embracing their deafness or hearing aids. It’s why hers is bright white!”

Tarek also detailed the daily struggles Tasha faces. He added: “It’s mentally draining for her trying to compute what’s been said, lip reading people whose lips aren’t facing her or whose mouths are covered with bottles [and] who said what when many are talking.

“Staying involved in conversation when you can only hear robotic sounds in only one of your ears is mentally draining. This leads to tiredness and sometimes tears.

“It’s a pressured environment for all but she has an extra pressure no one seems to recognise apart from anyone who is deaf or hard of hearing.

“‘Thank you to everyone who’s posted on this page with positive messages. Truly from the bottom of Tashas and our hearts. #bekind #loveisland #loveislandmemes #loveislandspoilers”.

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