Love Island contestant Haris Namani has addressed recent footage which appeared to show him involved in a fist fight prior to entering the reality show’s villa, saying that “it’s not a reflection” of his character.
The clip, which was obtained by The Sun earlier this week, reportedly shows the Love Island star punching someone and shouting, “I’m not a bully,” on a night out in Doncaster last May.
After being dumped from the villa following the latest public vote, Haris spoke to ITV about the clip, saying in a statement: “I’m devastated that this video has been seen, it’s not a reflection of my character.
“I’m not someone that goes looking for fights and I didn’t want to be in that situation. This was a heat of the moment thing.”
He said that the video does not show everything that occurred around the fight, adding: “Afterwards we met up and we cleared the air; we’ve shaken hands and we get along now. It’s not something that would happen again.”
ITV responded to the video on Tuesday, with a spokesperson saying: “Language and behaviour in the villa is always closely monitored, and islanders are reminded of what we consider acceptable during their time on the show.
“Extensive duty of care protocols for all islanders includes video training and guidance covering language and behaviour.”
Haris left the villa in last night’s episode alongside Anna-May Robey after the public were given the chance to vote for their favourite islanders following Sunday night’s show.
While Tanya Manhenga, Tanyel Revan, Tom Clare and Kai Fagan were also up for elimination following the vote, it was down to Australian bombshells Jessie Wynter and Aaron Waters to choose one boy and one girl to be dumped, with them picking Anna-May and Haris.
On his exit, Haris said that he was “just getting to know” Olivia Hawkins before being dumped.
“Standing up there I did see I was the most vulnerable out of the two lads I was with. Tom’s good with Zara, Kai is good with Tanyel,” he said. “Whatever’s meant to be will be.”
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