Love Island star Paige Thorne has responded to criticism she has received from fellow Islanders since leaving the villa, which has seen her labelled “not nice”.
Love Island bombshell Nathalia Campos revealed secret tensions in the villa between herself and Paige, claiming the Welsh paramedic made a series of ‘Mean Girls’ comments behind her back during an appearance on the Speaking on Reality with Will Njobvu podcast.
This came after Casa Amor bombshell Coco Lodge opened up about her difficult relationship with Paige and described her behaviour as “not kind or nice” in a frank TikTok post.
Most recently, Danica Taylor said she wishes she had confronted the likes of Paige over the way she felt she was treated upon arrival in the villa, having watched the scenes back.
The 24-year-old Love Island star, who is now in a relationship with Newcastle personal trainer Adam Collard following the show, obliquely addressed the criticism during an appearance on former Love Island star Toby Aromolaran’s podcast Fancy A Chat?
Toby asked Paige about her feelings towards the post-Love Island climate of people talking about everyone else” and Paige replied: “People have got to do what they've got to do.”
She continued: “If you've got to talk s*** about someone else to keep yourself relevant, that's fine. It's not my vibe.
“Why can't you focus on yourself and all the positive things, rather than talk s*** about anyone else?
“I'm not about that. I'm in my little positive bubble and I stay firmly inside it. People just want to try to pop it sometimes but it's impenetrable, so no.”
Toby noted: “A lot of people are going to try to drag you down,” as Paige laughed as she replied: “They try.”
Toby also asked Paige about the experience of going from anonymity to fame overnight, posing: “Obviously you lived under a rock and now you're here, there, everywhere – how are you finding the transition?”
Paige replied: “It is really overwhelming but Adam's been absolutely great because he's done it before, so he's been taking it under my wing and helping me out.
“It's been good. I'm glad I've got him to help me out because otherwise I'd be a headless chicken. I've really enjoyed everything so far.”
This comes after Danica revealed that in hindsight she wishes she had expressed herself more when she was saved from being dumped by the boys – who picked to dump Antigoni Buxton.
She told On Demand Entertainment : "Not gonna lie, watching it back, I've seen sort of the way Paige was when Antigoni left and it was very clear she wanted me to go."
Danica said that she should have approached Paige to let her know how it felt, with her saying that she saw her co-star "mouthing things" to others about her being saved.
She commented about it: "Like I've done nothing wrong and you're blatantly mouthing things across the firepit to insinuate like 'what the hell why is Danica still here?'"
The former islander however said she's had time to "move past" it, though further commented about the situation: "In the moment, looking back, I wish I'd said things."
