Joey Essex's fury as he bans Love Islanders from talking about TOWIE in villa
Joey Essex, the reality TV star known for his time on The Only Way is Essex, has reportedly put a stop to any Love Island stars from dropping TOWIE quotes.
The 33 year old, who made history as the first celebrity to join the civilian version of ITV2's hit dating show this season, was not amused by the constant references to his old stomping ground in the villa, revealed Patsy Field, who was recently booted from the island.
Patsy, a 29 year old office worker, spilled the beans: "Everyone was quoting TOWIE. All of the girls were quoting TOWIE. Joey put us on a TOWIE quote ban at one point. [He] said, 'We're going to need to drop it now.'"
Despite the ban, Patsy explained that their intentions were pure, as they were actually paying tribute to Gemma Collins, 43, the queen of reality TV herself, rather than mocking Joey, who was coupled up with Samantha Kenny before his ex Grace Jackson joined the show.
She told Closer magazine: "But we couldn't help it, and we said, 'We're not actually quoting TOWIE, we're just quoting The GC'. She is a living legend, so can you blame us really?", reports the Mirror.
Joey Essex, who has graced our screens on Dancing on Ice, I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and Celebs Go Dating, among others, caused quite the stir when he entered Love Island as a bombshell on the first night of the new series. Despite his celeb status, he's been treated just like any other contestant on the Maya Jama-led series.
A source spilled the beans to MailOnline, saying: "Joey is being treated like any other Love Island contestant, he's playing by the same rules and won't be given any preferential treatment. He hasn't been paid an appearance fee or any money at all for signing up for the show, not a penny. On Love Island it is all about the exposure and for Joey, it means more than that, too. He's looking for someone to settle down with."
Joey recently ruffled feathers among Love Island fans, with some viewers crying foul over a perceived "fix" in the show. Tuesday's episode of the ITV2 reality series saw the unexpected exit of Samantha Kenny, who had been paired with the TOWIE star since his bombshell entrance into the villa.
Their budding romance was abruptly halted by the arrival of Joey's ex-girlfriend Grace Jackson. The TV personality realised he still had feelings for the model, whom he dated for six weeks last year.
After unceremoniously dumping Samantha, Joey decided to rekindle his relationship with Grace. This left makeup artist Samantha without a partner and she was subsequently booted from the villa.
Following Samantha's shock departure, viewers took to Twitter, accusing the show of using Samantha as a pawn.
"As they intend for Joey and Grace to become fan favourites (fixed) they had to get rid of Samantha because she wasn't making them look good", one viewer penned.
Another quickly chimed in: "I hope nobody is buying this touching Joey and Grace reunion. It's a fix and they aren't even bothering to pretend #loveIsland."
A third concurred: "Joey and Grace is giving this is preplanned, fixed, behind the scenes, strings being pulled."
