Bianca Gascoigne in Love Island 'hoax' as fake ITV bombshell claims made

Bianca Gascoigne found herself at the centre of a huge Love Island 'hoax' on Monday when claims were published online that Gazza's step daughter was going into the show as its first ever celebrity bombshell, nearly 20 years on from her winning one of the first ever series.

While Love Island's popularity has soared to new heights since it relaunched on ITV2 in 2015, the reality is that 10 years earlier it caused a stir on ITV, with Bianca winning its seconds series in 2006, alongside Calum Best. Since her win back then, Bianca has gone onto appear on other shows like Celebrity Big Brother and the Italian version of Strictly and on Sunday, information was 'leaked' by a Love Island account online which claimed that the now 37-year-old, was heading into the villa as the first new arrival; of 2024,

Given that Bianca only got engaged to other half Arron Wright late last year and is now a mum of one to daughter Blake Sunshine, it would seem unlikely that she would be on the new series of Love Island and, the claims did prove to be wide of the mark, as she wasn't the familiar face who ended up sending shockwaves through the villa at the end of Monday's launch episode.

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Instead the star in question was Joey Essex, the 33-year-old former TOWIE favourite, who already has experience of TV dating shows, having been on both Celebs Go Dating and Ex on the Beach. He went in right as credits rolled on the show and it's since been revealed that his exit has led to a very abrupt exit for another Islander.