The latest series of Love Island kicked off on Monday, June 6 with 11 new singletons entering the villa in Mallorca. The daughter of former Liverpool and England footballer Michael Owen is one of the contestants on this year's edition, and took viewers by surprise when she revealed her age.
Gemma, a Team GB dressage rider, surprised her new friends on the ITV dating show when she told them she's 19. Fans watching the eighth series also said they "felt old" as they tuned in at 9pm.
As reported by Manchester Evening News, viewers flocked to Twitter to share their feelings. @katholmes27 tweeted: "Gemma was born in the 2000s, that is not okay."
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@RachaelYo said: "Still can’t get over the fact that Gemma has only been able to legally drink for 12 whole months." @liv_liv_liv__ asked: "Gemma turned 19 on May 1st??? she was born in 2003??"
@iMallyUK said: "Gemma was born in 2003. She was 12 when #LoveIsland premiered. Let that sink in." And @SophiLH_ said in mock outrage: "So Gemma was born in 2002 / 2003?? I’m turning the TV off."
@paulruddTD commented: "Sorry but I can’t let it register that Gemma was born in 2003 sorry no." @escandrew47 said: "Gemma being born in 2003 makes me feel so old."
@EleanorRoscuro commented: "That sense of foreboding across the British Isles when Gemma said she was just 19 years old." And @emmakinlochxx said: "I grew up fancying Gemma’s dad! I officially feel old."
Viewers were also left waiting to see if Gemma would mention her famous dad after previously vowing not to brag about him. She had said: "I want people to get to know me for me - not just being the daughter of an ex footballer."
"My dad was probably at the end of his career when my ex-boyfriends were born,” she noted. And in her introduction video she joked: "It would be nice if I did score in the villa. See what I did there?"
Before entering the villa she said former England striker Michael, 42, was "not 100% happy" with her taking part. And she promised to avoid "disrespecting or embarrassing" him by having sex on camera on the show set in Mallorca, the Mirror reports.
“They trust me not to do anything to embarrass them, so I don’t think I would have sex in the villa,” she said of her parents, Michael and Louise. “I think what my family think is always going to be in the forefront of my mind because they are the most important thing to me, and the opinion I care about the most.”
Michael hasn’t forbidden her from dating in the villa and her mum’s advice was 'just remember to keep it classy'. “My dad didn’t actually give me that much advice,” she said. “He said: ‘I’m not going to tell you do’s and don’ts - you know how to behave. You just go and do it.’
And Gemma reckons Michael, who was unmasked as Doughnuts on zany ITV singing show The Masked Singer earlier this year, will secretly be pleased if she did bring a player home. “I’m sure if I did actually get with a footballer he’d be quite happy because he’d have something in common with them - I don’t think he’d be annoyed.” she said.
