Rosie Williams, who appeared on Love Island in 2018, has warned current contestant Paige Thorne’s family against her dating Adam Collard.
Collard appeared on the ITV series at the same time as Williams and the pair dated while at the Mallorcan villa.
But the 26-year-old’s return to Love Island on Monday (11 July) has sparked controversy among fans of the show due to his behaviour in 2018.
Williams, who was dumped by Collard in favour of fellow contestant Zara McDermott during her time on the show, claimed that Thorne and Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu were “in trouble” as they are his “type”.
She told The Sun that she “warned Paige’s family” about Collard, adding: “Based on my experience I’d say not to couple up with Adam.
“I actually spoke to whoever is running Paige’s social media accounts and said, ‘I hope my Welsh sister doesn’t do it. Tell her to stay away’.”
Reacting to the news about Collard’s return on Sunday night (10 July), Williams shared a throwback shot of her looking unhappy while she was on the show on her Instagram Story, with the caption: “Tomorrow night.”
Collard was widely criticised in 2018 for the way he treated Williams. Viewers were outraged when he smirked while Williams cried during an argument with him after he dumped her for McDermott.
His re-appearance on Love Island prompted Women’s Aid to issue a warning to ITV and the show’s producers on Monday.
The women’s charity issued a statement in 2018 when he first went on the show and said there were “clear warning signs in Adam’s behaviour” of “emotional abuse”.
In a new statement, Teresa Parker, head of communications and media relations at Women’s Aid, said: “In the 2018 series of Love Island, we saw Rosie rightly call out Adam for his unacceptable behaviour, which included gaslighting and emotional abuse.
“We hope that ITV recognise how serious this issue is and that it must be learned from, considering they have asked Adam to return to the show.
“Love Island is watched by many young people and we know what a huge influence it has. Producers must make sure there is support for contestants throughout, and intervene if relationships become unhealthy or abusive.”
Williams added that viewers should “wait and see” if Collard has “matured in four years”, but said: “What I can see from him being on it so far is that he doesn’t look like he has.
“I’m sure he’ll work his magic, but whether or not he’s true to his word is another thing.”
Love Island continues at 9pm on ITV2 every day except Saturdays.
