Love Island fans were quick to call out Luca Bish over his remarks about Gemma Owen just after she defended the pair's relationship. The couple appeared to hit the rocks earlier this week on the ITV2 dating show following the latest challenge.
Tuesday's episode (July 26) saw the islanders take part in a ‘Mile High’-themed challenge. Dressed as cabin crew, the girls prepared the boys for departure, giving them a full safety briefing and offering refreshments before joining their chosen passenger for a private ‘Mile High Club’ moment.
However, the flirtatious antics of the challenge caused some friction between Gemma Owen and Luca Bish. Luca, 23, appeared to get irritated that his partner, 19-year-old Gemma, was getting up close and personal with the other boys during the challenge when she licked their necks.
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Afterwards, Gemma talked to the girls about the situation and said that she had just acted in the “heat of the moment” and that she did not want to hear him sulking about the situation. They later confronted each other where Luca admitted that he had not liked seeing her get flirtatious with the other male islanders but added that it was a challenge so he could not “stay annoyed” at her.
This frustrated Gemma further as she countered that he had previously said he “wasn’t in a mood”, which caused Luca to remove his microphone and walk out of the villa. The couple later readdressed the situation on the terrace where they continued to have differences of opinion on whether the behaviour was acceptable because it was in a challenge.
While the pair still didn't appear to resolve the issue, they were seen comforting each other as they prepared for the latest dumping. The results of the public vote were revealed in Wednesday night's episode with Danica Taylor and Jamie Allen being the ones chosen to leave, days before the final.
After their fellow islanders' departure, the five remaining couples woke up to the sound of babies crying and were each assigned a new arrival to look after. Upon discovering the lifelike dolls, Tasha Ghouri despaired, saying: "This is my nightmare, I’ve actually woken up to a nightmare."
Gemma Owen added: "My ears are f****** ringing already!” Dami Hope, who is currently partnered up with Indiyah Pollack, took a more positive approach to the experience, saying: "I feel like I’m attached. I feel like my experience here has just got 10 times better." Indiyah added: “Dami has been doing an amazing job, such a good dad. Honestly I couldn’t ask for a better father.”
But Luca's comment quickly caught viewers' attention when he joked with Gemma, saying: "I didn’t know if I’d be a good dad but being here for eight weeks and looking after Gem, I think I’ve actually got it in me." And they flocked to social media to react. @oliviazao said: "I know Luca was just 'joking' but that was a weird thing to say about looking after Gemma #LoveIsland."
@sema_malik_WL wrote: "Did anyone else find Luca's "joke" about looking after Gemma weird, seeing as she's...19?! #LoveIsland." @justcallmeharii tweeted: "Comparing looking after Gemma to looking after a baby????? LUCA?? #LoveIsland." @Shekkkk__ shared: "Luca basically referring to himself as looking after Gemma like a dad for 8 weeks!? 1. She’s been looking after you bro & 2. EW WTF?! #LoveIsland."
During the episode, Gemma defended her relationship with Luca, 23, following their row. Sitting at the table at their mother's meeting brunch which saw the dad's left in the main villa with the babies, the daughter of former footballer Michael Owen said: "Everything was fine.
"In a normal life situation, I wouldn't be going round licking anyone's neck, do you know what I mean? It was just that he thinks that we're not right for each other if we argue. Today we've been fine, it's like nothing even ever happened."
But Love Island fans are predicting a pre-final twist that will be reminiscent of last year's series. @beklaaa tweeted: "What’s the odds Gemma’s going to do a Liberty & dramatically finish Luca just before the final for a nice big in the style deal #LoveIsland." @DelaneyMaire asked: "#loveisland Will Gemma and Luca leave the villa days before the final like Jake and Liberty??"
@sian_davies_xx echoed: "Why do I feel like Gemma and Luca could potentially pull and Liberty and Jake #LoveIsland." @JakiArms added: "I need Gemma and Luca to pull a Liberty and Jake QUICK, my girl looks miserable 24/7 #LoveIsland."
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