Love Island star Coco Lodge has revealed her Dad rang producers while she was in the villa to complain about how she was being represented on screen “When I was in the villa, apparently my Dad called the producers and was like, you need to show her full personality because what you’re showing is causing so much hate….you’re going to ruin my daughter’s mental health.”
Chatting to hosts Bobby Norris and Stephen Leng on the showbiz gossip programme Access All Areas, the reality star spoke candidly about her experience on the show, calling it a “rollercoaster.” She continued: “The first day I went into Casa, that was so fun. Then obviously, having such a strong connection with someone so quickly. I never thought I could literally catch [feelings] in basically a day, but I was obsessed. And it was so nice to have that connection with someone you get so close so quickly. Obviously, it didn’t work out. But that was a nice experience. Then I had the downfall of everything.
The 24-year-old revealed how she struggled to adjust to villa life post Casa Amor as she found the original girls to be “unwelcoming”. “It was actually really hard for me. What’s not shown on the edit of it is the fact that I was literally hyperventilating, crying loads, like I really, really struggled at first, not even just with Andrew [Le Page] but the girls, like some of them weren’t welcoming to begin with.”
She went on to say: “It was actually really hard. I just kind of thought we’ve all been through the same process, you’ve just been chosen to go in before me. So, it was really hard to adjust to when the OGs came back in. I really did struggle at first, but towards the end, my experience was just like, honestly, I can’t explain like when you’re close with everyone in there it was so different.”One of the biggest talking points from this season of Love Island has been what happened that night under the sheets between Coco and fellow islander Andrew Le Page. “We did not have sex, I mean he sucked on the tit, there was probably like arse groping and like, you know, maybe like bit of I don’t know rubbing against each other but that’s about it.”
She did reveal, however, that it was “quite hard to hold back.” She added that “It’s not great when you’re so sexually attracted to someone like it’s really hard to not get carried away. “ The graphic designer then revealed how, looking back, she would have gone further with Andrew: “I wish I just went the full way because the amount of hate I got anyway like I might as well have you know.”
In response to Woman’s Aid speaking to ITV producers about ‘controlling and misogynistic behaviour’ in the villa , Coco gave her opinion to Bobby and Stephen “I think being in there, it’s very different to the edited version of the show you see, and I think people could take some of the behaviour controlling however, when you’re in there, and you see how someone is like 24/7 I think like that is not the case personally. Everyone gets on really well.”
She continued by saying how she felt the situation between Luca Bish and Gemma Owen in the show had been “blown out of proportion.” She carried on by saying: “I don’t agree with some of the comments he made obviously it can be seen as bullying, but you have to remember a lot of things like they can cut down sentences. So I tried to take it very light heartedly and being in there I didn’t ever think once like oh, like he’s being controlling towards Gemma.”
Listen to the full episode of Access All Areas, also featuring Aaron Simpson here.
