Love Island’s Dami on cheating rumours: ‘Paige and I can’t be friends and she can’t comment on my posts’

Exclusive: The reality TV star and girlfriend Indiyah Pollack hit back at Paige gossip, 'fake' Adam Collard and Davide's dig at Indiyah’s looks
Dominique Hines15 November 2022
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Dami Hope said he has been forced to keep his distance from Paige Thorne after being trolled on social media over their friendship.

In an exclusive chat with Evening Standard, the Love Island star revealed things have become so fraught that Paige has even stopped liking or commenting on his social media pages out of fear she will be targeted by angry fans.

“Paige and I can’t even be friends because every time we hang out or speak publicly it’s going to end up with [rumours] that something else is going on,” he said.

“Now she can’t even comment on my posts or really like them anymore because she always gets backlash and is afraid of that, you know.

“I mean it’s silly.

Indiyah and Dami, who faced challenges to their romance in the villa, have now spoken out at the Paige Thorne cheating rumours
ITV

“I feel like a lot of people try to push the narrative that I only actually like white girls because of previous [black male] contestants and so I’m not really into Indiyah.

“I love black women, so it’s just not true.”

The 26-year-old opened up about the ongoing rumours that he and Paige are either having a secret romance or that he would like to pursue the 24-year-old paramedic from Swansea, in a joint chat with girlfriend Indiyah to promote their candid Bumble podcast about their relationship.

Indiyah, 23, also tells the Evening Standard that while she trusts Paige and Dami, she’s not totally comfortable with their friendship because of the buzz that comes with it.

Paige Thorne (pictured) has turned to Dami as a shoulder to cry on since her split from Adam Collard (pictured)
Paige Thorne / Instagram

“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t upset me," she admitted. “Dami is my boyfriend. I mean, it’s just me seeing people come up with think-pieces, especially when you’ve lived in a home with someone and you know what they’re like.

“I know Paige is not like that, but it still doesn’t help when you see [the gossip]. Absolutely not. It’s not nice to be on the receiving end of that.”

The pair have said they felt pressure from fans to make sure their relationship goes the distance as one of the few successful black couples to ever appear on the long-running show.

Indiyah and Dami also got candid about the pressure on ‘black love’ with host Tolly T on new podcast
bumble

“We’ve felt pressure [to last as a couple]," said Indiyah. “We did a podcast [with Bumble] where we talk about our relationship and black love.

“We’re just trying to not feel like we have to live up to certain expectations or set an example. We’re just trying to live.

“We do understand that people look at our relationship, especially black [fans] and want it to represent ‘black love’ succeeding from the show. They want us to be the pinnacle of it...”

The pair also addressed challenges that they faced in the villa and how “real life” together compares.

“So far it’s going well,” said Indiyah about their relationship. “In the villa you’re so contained so now we are out, you can actually dive into each others lives and stuff... it’s better."

“Yeah, we can talk about anything now," Dami added.

“When you’re in that closed environment you almost feel that pressure to stick with the person you’re coupled-up with until the end. Not everyone does, but some do,” Indiyah continued.

“Some people feel that pressure and when you get into the real world and then you start talking to ‘normal people’ again and get time to step back then you realise it wasn’t right.

Adam said of his recent break-up with Paige ‘it is what it is’ and hit out at Dami for coming to her defence
GC Images

“Some people were just not being themselves.”

Dami said: “They were being fake. They felt pressure to do this or that to stay [on the show] even though they’re probably not even happy in the villa.”

Paige’s ex Adam recently lashed out at Dami for defending her in their split.

When asked if Adam was one of the Islanders he was referring to as fake, he replied: "Yeah.

"He tried to reform the ‘bad boy’ narrative that he created himself from the last time [when he was first on the show in a previous season].

"I feel like he came in trying to change it this season, but it was like, ‘[the nice guy] that’s not who you were...’

Ekin-Su Culculoglu
Love Island winner, Davide with girlfriend and fellow winner Ekin Su, made a dig at Indiyah’s looks while in the villa
PA

"Personally, I feel like you [Adam] should have just stuck to the original."

Indiyah adds: "Yeah. When he first came in with his reputation I thought ‘s***’, but he didn’t do anything!... I heard the producers wanted him to crossover."

Indiyah, who along with Dami, remains friends with a select group of their fellow contestants, including Jacques, Danica, Tasha, Andrew and Ekin, also had some strong words for season winner Davide.

The Italian famously insulted her looks on the show by referring to Casa Amor bombshell, Summer, as "an upgrade" for Dami - with whom she notoriously had a brief and controversial romance.

Having the last laugh? Indiyah, who hit back at Davide for insulting her appearance, has since sigened lucrative fasion and beauthy deals with the likes of Boots and Pretty Little Thing
Instagram/Indiyah Polack

"I wasn’t aware of those comments for ages," said Indiyah, who despite Davide’s slight has since signed beauty and fashion deals with Boots and Pretty Little Thing.

"I never thought I needed to address him because I feel like the reason why he said that was mainly because of his preference.

"In somebody else’s eyes, Summer isn’t going to be an upgrade.

"I mean, if you have a set vision of what your ideal woman looks like, which Davide does, then the woman furthest away from that, me, is not gonna compete in any way.

"Also, respectfully yeah, I couldn’t give two flying monkeys what he thinks as I would never be attracted to him or his type of look."

The couple is set to move into a three bedroom flat by the end of the month
PA Wire

Dami added: "I actually defended the comment when he said it to me... I never said anything bad about any woman on the show. I said ‘it’s not even about looks.’"

Dami and Indiyah, who are currently on a romantic ‘bucket list’ holiday in Iceland, are set to undergo what may just be the biggest test of their relationship by moving into a swanky three bedroom flat together.

"We have found a place and are moving in a few weeks," said Indiyah. "It just felt like the right move.

"Most of the jobs that we do are in London and we are excited."

Bumble’s My Love Is... podcast episode with Indiyah and Dami, hosted by Tolly T, is available to stream now on Bumble’s YouTube channel, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. New episodes air every Tuesday

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in