'Meet the parents' task sees families of the Islanders entering the villa as contestants get to know their partner’s relatives. According to The Mirror, former Love Island contestant and Blazing Squad member Marcel Somerville believes that ITV is trying to get Michael Owen on board for it.
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Footballer dad
According to Marcel Somerville, the show bosses are desperate to show Gemma Owen in the positive limelight after fans initially took a strong dislike to her. Speaking at the launch of Poke House Covent Garden, Marcel said:
What Love Island wants to do is have Michael Owen walk through the doors – that’s going to be TV gold.
Their goal is to have a hero arc and I feel like it’s coming along. She’s a person they want to turn into a main character – they put her ex-boyfriend in the villa for a reason, as she’s got more dimensions to her.
At first, she came across snotty and like she’s entitled, but now she’s coming across more normal.
Meanwhile, the former footballer has commented about his daughter being on the show as ‘a father’s worst nightmare.’
Is there a deal somewhere?
Viewers have never seen Gemma talk about her dad or even mention his name, however, she has dropped hints every now and then. According to The Sun, some fans also have a theory that Gemma’s time on the show and her not mentioning who her father is, are all part of a deal. Sharing a bizarre theory on Reddit about why Michael has not been mentioned, fans claimed:
If her family paid them money not to air it, we won't see it. I think it's pretty obvious that some sort of deal was struck regarding her time on the island.
There's no way someone with that much money/power enters into a competition like this without insurance.
Gemma Owen will have had a sweetheart deal struck up somehow between her lawyers and ITV to ensure she gets x-amount of attention per episode, is only shown favourably, one of her clothing lines is pushed etc.
However, no evidence supports the existence of any such deal.
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