LOVE Island wannabe Molly Marsh has been in the dating show’s villas twice already.
But the panto actress — whose mum has appeared in Corrie — insists she won her place fairly.
She visited the ITV2 show’s villas in Majorca and South Africa on trips organised for social media influencers.
And she has also enjoyed a flirtation with Boyzone star Ronan Keating’s son Jack, a contestant last year.
So Molly says she’s braced for a backlash from some viewers over her background.
The 21-year-old told The Sun: “Being in the industry, I know the good that comes with it, I know the bad and I’ve had a bit of both already — it is in my blood really.
“I hope people don’t see me as a plant, I don’t want people to think that it’s been an easy route just because I’ve been to the villas. It has been a long and hard process. It’s been difficult.”
Molly posted Instagram snaps from her trip to the villa in Spain last summer.
And on her visit to Cape Town in January she caught the eye of show producers and was invited to audition.
Molly, of Doncaster, South Yorks, said: “It just feels like it’s a safe and warm environment that I’m now used to.
“Imagine meeting the guy in there that I’m gonna spend the rest of my life with, that’s the dream.”
Mum Janet was in three Coronation Street episodes between 2005 and 2009.
And Molly has followed in her acting footsteps, appearing in pantomimes.
She played the fairy in Snow White in Middleton, Gtr Manchester, last year.
In Derby in 2021 she was the understudy to EastEnders star Rita Simons as the evil queen in Sleeping Beauty.
And in 2020, she played a mermaid in Peter Pan.
Molly said: “It was nice to actually have a little relationship with Rita and have rehearsal days with her.
“I’d kind of go ‘please don’t be off because I don’t know the script well enough yet’. And she was like ‘babe don’t worry, I’ve got your back, I’ll be on every day unless something drastic happens’. But I loved playing the fairy because the audience love you and you get to save the day.
“My whole family is so encouraging. They know I love the show and they’re excited for me to hopefully go and find ‘the one’.”
Love Island returns on Monday at 9pm on ITV2.
