LOVE Island fans have accused one of the islanders of ‘bullying’ his ex and they are threatening to report him to Ofcom.
Viewers are so horrified with the way Joey Essex has spoken to his former flame Grace Jackson that they want to log an official complaint.
The ex Towie star, 33, was seen laying into Grace, 25, several times during the latest episode of the ITV2 reality show.
The gang were seen at this year’s Grafties, an awards ceremony introduced by show bosses last year.
But tempers flew as the nominations and winners were announced during Sunday night’s Love Island instalment.
Joey was seen sniping at Grace multiple times during the ceremony and ‘disgusted’ fans were left siding with her.
Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, one furious fan blasted: “Can Joey be reported to Ofcom to leave Grace alone!! #loveisland.”
Another added: “Joey is acc bullying grace and it’s so disgusting to see wth #LoveIsland.”
A third wrote: “Joey is bullying Grace the way Jess bullied Harriet and it’s gross. #LoveIsand like he needs to be off screen cause he’s a mental health risk. Idc to see him on tv again.”
A fourth agreed: “I don’t even think Jessy and Joey’s connection is all that. He’s borderline bullying Grace yet he’s not in the bottom?”
And someone else chimed in: “Joey straight up bullying Grace at this point: it’s f***ing weird.”
Another viewer picked up on Grace admitting to her friends in the villa that Joey ‘puts her on edge’.
They said: “Joey is bullying Grace sorry. I can’t get over when she said she’s always on edge waiting for him to come at her. She must be exhausted. Because she’s so articulate and stands on business everyone thinks she’s okay but she’s probably not.”
Joey first had a pop at Grace at The Grafties after he won the award – voted for by viewers at home – for Biggest Pot Stirrer.
Collecting his heart-shaped trophy, he said: “Being the biggest pot stirrer I don’t think is a bad thing. I think it’s just in situations…”
Grace groaned, to which Joey shot back: “Pardon?”
The blonde beauty repeated her noise and Joey mimicked her, saying: “What does that mean?”
Grace replied: “It’s so boring. What’s that got to do with being a pot stirrer?”
Joey told her: “I’m not boring though, am I? ‘Cos you weren’t saying that before.”
As the islanders shook their heads, Grace asked: “Wasn’t saying that before about what? About what?”
Joey went on to claim he only ‘tries to get people talking the truth’.
Minutes later, Joey fired another shot towards Grace after she received a joint nomination with Josh Oyinsan for ‘Unfinished Business’.
A clip was played of Grace telling Josh he is “beautiful” before confessing to the girls that she fancied him.
The footage, however, was from weeks ago and came after Josh entered the villa as a bombshell. He is now happily coupled up with Mimii Ngulube.
Unable to keep his mouth shut, Joey sarcastically said: “No way! Oh my God! That is so bad!”
Looking irked, Grace told the group: “This is before him and Mimii had something super strong and we haven’t chatted ever since.”
Love Island has been hit with thousands of complaints over the years - here are the most moaned about moments
Dani’s tears: in 2018, Ofcom received 2,644 complaints when Dani Dyer was left in floods of tears over Jack Fincham during the Casa Amor. Viewers felt the show had been manipulated to make it appear Jack was going to cheat, when in fact he wasn’t. And poor Dani didn’t learn the truth for days.
Maura fury: Although she later won over the public, Maura Higgins got off to a bad start in 2019. After arriving as a bombshell, she made a beeline for Tommy Fury – who was coupled up with Molly-Mae Hague – and tried to kiss him while straddling him on a daybed. 709 people accused her actions as ‘sexual harassment’.
Faye explodes: The 2021 series of Love Island remains the most complained series about yet. 4,330 complaints were made to Ofcom after Faye Winter received a postcard from Casa Amor, which appeared to show her fella Teddy Soares kissing a bombshell. But a whopping 24,763 complaints flooded in when Faye came face-to-face with Teddy again. Faye’s shocking outburst even sparked a reaction from male domestic abuse charity, ManKind Inititive, who branded her ‘unacceptable’.
Bish bash: The following year, the fallout from Movie Night sparked 3,617 Ofcom complaints. Fans of the show were horrified by Luca Bish’s harsh reaction when Gemma Owen was shown speaking to bombshell Billy Brown.
Muggy Mitch: Almost 1,000 Ofcom complaints flooded in last year in the final week of Love Island. Viewers were unimpressed with Mitchel Taylor’s treatment of Abi Moores and felt he was ‘targeting’ her. Fans even urged Love Island bosses to check on Abi’s ‘mental health and welfare’.
But Joey shouted: “Do you still fancy each other, yes or no?”
Getting involved, Josh yelled back: “What kind of question is that? The question is, do you still fancy her?!”
“Clearly not,” Joey replied, looking cross.
The worst was to come, though, when it was revealed Joey and Grace were also nominated for the Unfinished Business award.
The shocked islanders watched a clip of Joey telling his love interest Jessy Potts that he believes Grace is only her friend “because she can’t have me”.
Looking at Grace once the clip had aired, Joey told her: “Straight facts.”
Clearly riled, Grace asked: “You still think I needed to latch onto Jessy because I had strong feelings for you?”
“Straight facts,” Joey repeated.
Grace’s love interest Reuben Collins told Joey: “She’s in your head rent free, bro. You keep bringing it up for no reason.
Getting upset, Grace added: “Every chance you get you bring me up. What is it with me. I actually am rent free in your head?”
Joey calmly told her: “It’s just what I see, it’s just what I see. And visa versa.”
Looking exasperated, Grace replied: “I don’t give a f***! Why do you care?!”
But keeping uncomfortably calm, he simply told her: “Because you care.”
Joey isn’t the only islander to be accused of bullying following Sunday night’s Grafties Awards.
Sean Stone has also been slammed by Love Island viewers for the way he spoke to Mimii during the ‘ceremony’.
