An Aussie health brand has severed ties with a controversial reality TV star over her body shaming comments on national TV.
The fallout stems from Tuesday night’s explosive episode of Love Island Australia, where fitness creator Shawnee Schein was seen getting fired up at her match, Lachie Cubis, for kissing fellow contestant Ava Toulson during a challenge.
The pair were talking about the kiss, when Schein became visiblity annoyed, and started making nasty remarks about Toulson.
“Grabbing her flat ass, embarrassing,” she shot at Cubis.
“Fake t*ts, fake lips, fake everything,” she relentlessly continued.
Cubis attempted to reassure her, replying that Toulson “Definitely got nothing on yours”.
“She’s got those,” he said, pointing at Schein’s breasts, “but not that … I like that better”, he said about her backside.
The 27-year-old eventually realised her mistake, conceding: “Nah I’m being a little bit mean, sorry, I’m salty”.
But the half-hearted apology was too little, too late for viewers, with hundreds taking to social media to condemn the remarks.
Fans were quick to call the reality star a “mean girl”, with one person writing, “She’s a bully”.
“I find it so ironic how Shawnee posts about body positivity on TikTok, yet jumps to shaming Ava’s physical looks all because HER MAN picked Ava to kiss in a challenge?” a bewildered user wrote.
“What she said about Ava was so nasty,” another viewer agreed.
Following the public backlash, popular supplement brand Nu Harvest announced it was cutting ties with the TV star, after they’d filmed a massive campaign in September.
Georgie Stevenson told her Instagram followers in a now-viral video that the brand wanted to address the situation “as soon as possible”.
Ms Stevenson explained that they had hired Schein as a model months before knowing she was a Love Island contestant.
“We have always been about female empowerment, we have always wanted to welcome everyone into our community, and celebrate all bodies no matter what,” she shared.
“So this is so unaligned to our brand, our values, and what we stand for.
“Even though Shawnee was just a model, we have made the decision that we will not be sharing any more content of this campaign,” she explained.
The business owner admitted it was a devastating loss of time and resources, but stressed that their core values mattered significantly more.
“For us, it is never okay to body shame or criticise a female’s body, or you know, even comment on it,” she said, adding that the brand will pivot to a new strategy.
However, the founder also urged the public not to attack Schein directly, reminding viewers that as much as they don’t condone what she said, they also don’t stand for any online bullying.
News.com.au has reached out to Love Island for comment.