Michael Owen spoke of his pride in daughter Gemma as the fact that she and other half Luca Bish finished second on Love Island caused a row online as fans were divided.
From the moment her name appeared on the confirmed list of contestants for this year, Gemma was the most talked about Islander, largely down to the fact that her dad is a footballing icon. And, as the new series of Love Island progressed, the 19-year-old earned plenty of respect in her own right, often praised by viewers for being 'wise beyond her years' and cool and controlled in the manner she dealt with any drama in the villa.
However, while she clearly had a lot of support in the lead up to the final, Luca was much more divisive when it came to the opinions of fans, with many identifying 'red flags' in the early stages of their romance and others being appalled by the way he behaved in the Movie Night episodes and the Snog, Marry, Pie challenge, before criticising him for a brutal remark he made to Gemma round the fire pit after they'd had a row.
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The backlash against Luca led to Gemma and his odds of winning drifting in the last few weeks of the series, with bookies tipping them to finish either third or fourth on Monday night. However, in an upset to the odds, after Tasha and Andrew only finished fourth, Gemma and Luca went onto finish as runners-up to winners Ekin-Su and Davide.
That was an outcome that angered a number of Love Island fans, with some very vocally declaring on Twitter that Tasha and Andrew had been robbed, while others questioned why Luca's behaviour was being 'rewarded.'
However, while he made no mention of Luca, Michael was quick to back his daughter. Posting a picture of him and Gemma together, he wrote: "She’s done us proud."
Fans were quick to praise Gemma's maturity in the thread underneath, but others said she needed to get rid of Luca, with one telling Michael: "Gemma is a wonderful girl. She got tarnished by Lucas negativity. She did very well in the villa. She needs to move on before it ends up like the movie misery."
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