Love Island fans were left horrified when they realised how old Gemma Owen was when Adam Collard enjoying his time in the villa the first time round. The 26-year-old, from Newcastle, made a shock return to the ITV2 dating show on Monday night (July 11).
His bombshell arrival was actually teased at the end of Sunday night's programme but following a double dumping and some making up, the boys were sent out of the villa to make way for Adam. And he wasted no time in living up to his "head-turning" reputation as he returned four series after making his first appearance.
The former personal trainer became infamous as a heartbreaker during his time on the show in 2018. He has promised his return to the Majorcan villa as a bombshell contestant would “ruffle a few feathers”. His pending arrival was announced, of course, via a text received by Paige Thorne which read: "Hi girls, I heard you’re all alone in the villa so I’m on my way. See you soon, Adam."
The girls couldn't hide their excitement and were soon in the dressing room getting ready for Adam's arrival. And as he made his entrance, there was a mix of surprise and delight as many of the islanders recognised him straight away. But it was Paige who was the first to grab some one-on-one time with the show's first-ever returnee.
He then made his way around the group with Love Island viewers seeing him chat with Danica Taylor, Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and Gemma. Adam spoke to Gemma about her relationship with Luca Bish after she admitted to be closed off. But when he suggested that he was her type, she didn't deny it.
But Love Island viewers couldn't help work out the numbers after Gemma's age caused them problems before. @imamyhiggins asked: "Is Gemma going to know who Adam is? Because she was like 15 when he was known, wasn’t she? #loveisland." @charlx95x tweeted: "To think Gemma was only 15 years old when Adam was in his season #LoveIsland."
@woahhEllie wrote: "Gemma was 15 when Adam was on his original season. Please stop talking. #LoveIsland." @gimmehopejoanna commented: "Gemma was 15 when Adam Collard was in #LoveIsland the first time. That's not weird at all." @sanaahxx joked: "Gemma was 15 so she shouldn't have been watching 4 years ago #LoveIsland."
It comes after a kiss between Gemma, the daughter of former footballer Michael Owen, and Davide Sanclimenti, 27, was one of the first moments to spark a flurry of complaints about the series, with almost 200 lodged to Ofcom last month. This was mainly due to viewers feeling uncomfortable with the age gap between the pair, with Gemma being the youngest contestant.
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