'Love Island' star Tasha Ghouri admits she almost walked out after bullying row

Tasha Ghouri has revealed that she and boyfriend Andrew Le Page almost walked out on Love Island in the wake of a particularly brutal challenge, which provoked Ofcom complaints.

The 23-year-old model, who was the reality show's first deaf contestant, told The Sun she was in a bad place in the wake of the "Snog, Marry, Pie" challenge, in which three of the boys pied her in the face.

"I knew I was gonna get pies. I was ready for it, but it was more about the comments after that. There’s a level of banter and there’s [that]," Ghouri said.

Read more: Love Island receives 3,000 Ofcom complaints in two days

She added: "I was standing there thinking: ‘Keep your head held high and don’t show a reaction'. There’s a clip and you can still see it in my face. It was a lot. I felt backed into a corner.

"It’s such an intense environment and hard to escape. You’re stuck in there together. I was ready to walk out.”

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More than 1,500 viewers complained to Ofcom in the wake of the challenge, citing bullying behaviour from the boys — especially Luca Bish and Dami Hope, who later apologised.

For Ghouri, the situation felt like the culmination of one of her worst periods on the show, but the star said she took heart from the fact Le Page was willing to stand up to his friends when they criticised her.

Read more: Charity warns of "concerning behaviour" by men on Love Island

She said: “A lot had happened in the space of three days and a lot of it was targeted at me. I was upset. I did kind of walk out. I said [to producers]: ‘I’ve had enough'. Andrew said: ‘I’m gonna go with you'.

"Then all of a sudden the boys apologised. It was a bittersweet moment. I’m a very forgiving person. I didn’t want to live the rest of the weeks in a negative way. I forgive, but I don’t forget."

Ghouri said she and Le Page are going from strength to strength as a couple and confessed she suspected she was receiving online hate in the outside world.

"Me and Andrew went on such a journey. For some people, that can come across as not genuine, but it’s Love Island and you have to see if there could be a better connection than the one you already have," she added.

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Ghouri said: "I felt like everything I did was wrong. I got quite a lot of negativity and backlash, especially when I was just getting to know people."

Love Island is set to return with two series in 2023, though ITV has revealed that elements of the show will be reviewed in the wake of the 5,000 complaints the 2022 series received.

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