Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen has broken his silence after daughter Gemma made her Love Island debut on Monday night.
The famous ITV show returned to screens this week for its eighth series, this time with a twist as viewers at home were given the chance to vote and pair the couples. Gemma, 19, is the youngest contestant in the villa this year.
Owen, who made over 290 appearances for Liverpool during his playing days, refused to be drawn into questions about his daughter during Channel 4's coverage of England's Nations League fixture against Germany on Tuesday night, but he admitted he is feeling 'alright'.
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He was asked by presenter Jules Breach: "It was a big night for the Owen's last night, how are you feeling tonight?
To which Owen responded: "I came all the way to Germany to try and avoid all that back home, but it has been brought up straight away. But I am feeling alright. This is taking my mind off it so don’t bring it back up!"
Owen wasn't mentioned in the opening episode, although viewers believed Gemma tried to drop plenty of hints to reveal her father's identity.
One of the former England striker's famous old tweets resurfaced on Monday night. Owen tweeted in 2014 after an England World Cup defeat: “Going to bed. Can't take the pain any longer." To which viewers quoted it saying: “Michael Owen at 9pm every night for the next 8 weeks."
Gemma was asked prior to starting the show what her dad thought about her entering the villa and she admitted he wasn't 'buzzing about it', but he took the news well.
“I still wouldn’t say that my dad is buzzing about me doing Love Island," she told the Mail. "He’s very supportive in whatever I decide to do. He didn’t have a massive tantrum or anything like that. He was pretty chilled, he trusts me not to do anything to embarrass him. He took it quite well.
“He didn’t say I couldn’t do this or give me any dos or don’ts. He said I’m not going to tell you what to do, I trust you, you have never given us a reason not to trust you, go for it but I will always have my family’s thoughts and opinions in the forefront of my mind because we are all super close and they are the most important people to me.”
