LOVE Island legend Georgia Steel has revealed the way she wants the show to combat vile trolling after receiving death threats.
Despite making it to the series final with Toby Aromolaran, Georgia, 26, came in for a barrage of online abuse over her attempts to woo fellow Islanders Callum Jones and Tom Clare through the series.
It all proved too much and there were times Georgia was left in tears and questioning “what is the point in being here?”
Time has helped heal those bullying wounds, but there have already been echoes of the vile comments she faced aimed at this summer series’ singletons.
Harriett Blackmore, in particular, faced a lot of nasty comments over her looks and mannerisms after the show launched.
Georgia is keen for producers to attach a warning notice to the opening of each episode explaining that the programme is dramatised.
In an exclusive chat with The Sun on behalf of Heart Bingo, she said: “I’m very fortunate and have a very good surrounding network. My parents are close to me, I have some very close friends from school, their opinions are the ones I care about.
“With a reality TV show it isn’t real, like it is dramatised. I’ve always said this.
“Before Towie they have ‘this is real life, however, things have maybe been dramatised for your entertainment.’ I do think they should do that before Love Island so people don’t take it too seriously and to heart.
“Obviously, Harriet, she definitely got trolled when she first went in there for her actions or whatever. But people need to understand it isn’t real life, these people are in situations which aren’t normal situations.
“I feel if someone’s giving you entertainment and you’re tuning to the show to watch entertainment, if anything they should be praised, even if they’re controversial. They shouldn’t be hindered because really if you got her out of the villa you wouldn’t watch it.”
And she defended Joey Essex after he came under fire for his treatment of Samantha Kenny.
After spending nearly two weeks with the makeup artist, he ditched her for ex-girlfriend Grace Jackson, and she was ultimately dumped from the island.
Some have called for him to be removed from the villa, but Georgia said he should be praised for being true to himself.
She said: “I feel like he’s navigated through it really well. Obviously, it’s a really sad situation with the Samantha thing, but I think for any viewer watching we kind of knew that there was definitely something missing there.
“And I mean it’s awful for her and I can’t imagine how she must feel, but I feel you are in there to meet someone and if Joey has a better connection with someone else then that should only be praised.”
Following her second stint in the villa, Georgia was forced to turn off her phone and moved back in with her parents in Thirsk, North Yorks, in a bid to hide from the online trolls.
She told us earlier this year: “I definitely, definitely felt trapped. If it wasn’t for my family and friends then that could have been really dark.
“There are a lot of people out there who don’t have the support network that I do.
“I am glad it happened to me rather than anyone else in there because I know I can get through it.
“I have the support to get through it and I can get through it.”
With a flourishing modelling career and a new series to distract Love Island fans, she’s done just that.
Wil Anderson and Uma Jammeh
Grace Jackson and Joey Essex
Tiffany Leighton and Ronnie Vint
Ayo Odukoya and Mimii Ngulube
Ciaran Davies and Nicole Samuel
Sean Stone and Harriett Blackmore
Omar and Jess White
