Love Island star Afia Tonkmor has explained why Gemma Owen’s dad has yet to come up in the villa, claiming that this year’s islanders 'don't care' who he is.
Love Island fans have been left convinced that there is a reason Michael Owen has still not been brought up inside the villa after two weeks of the ITV2 dating show.
Viewers have been waiting for the moment everyone finds out 19-year-old Gemma's father is football legend Michael Owen.
But Gemma still hasn’t spilled the beans, despite dropping a number of hints and Jacques O’Neill, Gemma’s ex, being in the villa.
The first contestant dumped from the villa this year was bombshell Afia Tonkmor, who joined the ITV2 dating show alongside Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu.
During a Q&A on her Instagram stories, Afia, 25, answered a fan who asked: “Do they know who Gemma's dad is?”
She responded: “If people do know – I did know before I went in because I watched her VT – but if they do know they don't care, nobody really cares.
“I don't know who he is. I know he's a football guy. It was never, ever spoken about in my presence.”
This comes after Love Island fans have been left convinced that there is a reason the most high profile contestant hasn’t revealed her famous family connection and suggested it could have been a prerequisite to her appearance on the show.
Love Island fans on Reddit think they’ve cracked the code, as one fan theorised: “If her family paid [ ITV ] money not to air [Gemma talking about Michael] then we won’t see it. I think it’s pretty obvious that some sort of deal was struck regarding her time on the island.”
Another responded: “There’s no way someone with that much money and power enters into a competition like [Love Island] without insurance.”
Although there is no clear evidence any such agreement is in place behind closed doors, Love Island fans have long been speculating on how Gemma came to be on the programme.
One ITV2 fan suggested: “Gemma 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.”
Another suggested: “I reckon Michael Owen has paid Love Island a fortune to get Luca out of his daughter’s bed!”
A fellow viewer wrote: “Low-key convinced Michael Owen has paid ITV to give Gemma all the screen time to try [and] make her the new Molly-Mae.”
Love Island airs every night at 9pm on ITV2 and ITV Hub.
