We’re just days away from the launch of this year’s Love Island, and we now know who is in this year’s starting line-up.
On Monday 30th May, ITV revealed the Love Island 2022 line-up, including dressage rider Gemma Owen, who is the daughter of former footballer Michael Owen.
Gemma will make her villa debut when the series starts on Monday 6th June, alongside the other cast, including Love Island’s first deaf contestant Tasha Ghouri.
This year’s Love Island is set to be one of the sexiest seasons, according to the show’s voiceover Iain Stirling, and with the show known for lots of drama and romance, we were naturally dying to know what Gemma’s famous father thought about his teenage daughter spending the summer in the Mallorca villa.
Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t best pleased…
Previously Gemma admitted that her dad wouldn’t be very happy if she joined the show, and his feelings having changed much now things are set in stone.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press ahead of the launch, Gemma revealed: “I still wouldn’t say he was buzzing about the fact. But he’s very supportive with whatever I decide to do.
“He didn’t have a massive tantrum or anything like that. It was pretty chilled. He sort of trusts me not to do anything and not to embarrass him or anything like that. So I guess he took it quite well.”
On whether he’s given her any advice about dealing with fame, she added: “I wouldn’t say he’s given me any advice. He’s given me a few tips. But I think it’s just one of the things you need to sort of experience for yourself and learn as you go through when you make the mistakes.
“It’s definitely quite handy to have someone that’s experienced it before to to get advice from if things are not going too well.”
Back in March, Gemma admitted that she was quite “nervous” about reality TV formats.
So with this in mind, and the fact her dad wasn’t over the moon about her going on the show, what was it that managed to convince her?
“I was still very much heavily campaigning for my dressage season. That was still very much my priority,” she explained.
“Over the summers are the busiest time for my competition, so the thought of having like two months out was not an option at that point. And then, as the season went on, I had a bad start really, and I didn’t get the scores that I quite needed.
“So I quite quickly ruled myself out of selection with the European Championships again, and then I got a few management companies who were interested, so I was more willing to see what they had to say, and just take it from there.
“I thought if there was ever a year to do it, then this year would probably be it!”
