Love Island’s Lauren Wood has responded to Women’s Aid’s comments on partner Harrison Solomon’s behaviour in the Villa, saying it had been “blown out of proportion”.
Speaking to Cosmopolitan UK after leaving the Villa last week, Lauren was asked how she felt about the charity’s statement, to which she responded: “I think it was blown out of proportion. He’s made a mistake, but everyone makes mistakes, like he’s gone about it in the wrong way. He knows he’s done wrong.”
She then added: “I think it was just the timing of everything. But like he said, he’s not a bad person. Everyone in the Villa knows that and that’s why it upset me the whole situation so much because I knew deep down he never meant it in a malicious way. He would never want to hurt someone, he just unfortunately didn’t communicate with me how he felt and it’s a shame he’s been portrayed in this way, because that’s just not him. And obviously for his family to see that it’s just not nice when they know him properly, know that that isn’t him as a person.”
She concluded: “And with it being only an hour, we’ve not watched it back, we don’t know what has actually been shown to get all of this. They see one hour a day.”
Joel Anderson//ITV
Last week Women’s Aid issued a statement to The Tab, in which they called out the men’s behaviour on Love Island. The statement was shared after an episode aired in which Harrison slept with Lauren, and then the next day told fellow Islander Toni he still had feelings for her and suggested she chose him at the next recoupling, without telling Toni he had slept with Lauren. After Toni did make her decision, Lauren was upset and seen in tears on the show.
Following this episode Women’s Aid said: “In recent years, Love Island and other forms of reality TV have been repeatedly called out by viewers for allowing in contestants that had a history of abusive, coercive and manipulative behaviour in previous relationships. As a result, production companies have been more careful when it comes to selecting contestants and calling out toxic behaviours when we see them.
“Despite these positive steps, we still see unhealthy patterns of behaviour on these shows, showing just how steeped in misogyny and sexism our society still is. Women are often lied to, slut-shamed and manipulated, as well as laughed at behind their backs. Misogyny and sexism lay the foundation for the tolerance of abuse and violence – it reinforces a culture that excuses and trivialises violence against women and girls. More must be done to educate contestants on sexism and misogyny, and it is a great credit to viewers who take to social media, continuing to call out these behaviours as soon as they see them.”
ITV
Harrison has since responded to the above statement, while in an interview with the Daily Mail. He said reading the charity’s comment “wasn’t nice” and that he does “respect women.”
He told the publication: “I have seen the backlash and it’s hard to digest. I would disagree with a lot of it in terms of my respect for women, I do respect women.
“The worst has been from Women’s Aid. I know myself and the girls on the show too, Toni said she knows I’m not a bad person, just went about situations in the wrong way, but the Women’s Aid statement wasn’t nice… it’s not nice coming out of the villa to my mum upset by that so I would say that’s been the hardest.”
Harrison then did acknowledged his behaviour and apologised to the women he had hurt and added: “I got it wrong and the back and forth between the two connections caused more harm than I ever intended.
“It wasn’t ever an ego thing. I am not proud of how I handled things and I’m not going to make excuses. I just want to own it. If people can give me the space to grow from it, I will do everything I can to be better and that’s the only thing I can do.
“There is no handbook for how to be on a show like Love Island. It’s instincts and intentions. I got some of it right, but I know I got a lot of it wrong, and I know that now.”
Last week Lauren was dumped from the Villa, after new bombshell Angel chose to couple up with Ty, which left Lauren single. She then asked Harrison (who was still technically in a couple with Toni) to leave with him. He debated over packing his bag and 24 hours after Lauren had left the Villa, he told his fellow Islanders he was quitting the Villa and wanted to pursue things with Lauren in the outside world.
Since their exits last week, Harrison and Lauren have been reunited and appeared to barely spend a moment apart.
For more information and support, visit Women’s Aid’s website or call the Freephone 24-hour National Domestic Violence Helpline, run by Women’s Aid in partnership with Refuge, on 0808 2000 247.
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