Footballing pundit Michael Owen will be watching warily as his daughter Gemma joins the Love Island villa this summer. The former Liverpool and Manchester United footballer's daughter is in Love Island’s team of 2022.
The Team BG dressage rider admits her dad was "not 100% happy" with her taking part. And the 19-year-old has vowed 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 says 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.”
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Former England striker Michael, 42, 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.
And Gemma admits it's her mum who is stricter when it comes to vetting boyfriends. “My dad’s never been a problem with my previous partners - he’s absolutely fine,” she laughed. “I think my mum was definitely the biggest issue.”
Michael has never seen Love Island, which 'couples-up' singles in a villa away from the outside world. And she's vowed not to brag about her famous dad. "I want people to get to know me for me - not just being the daughter of an ex footballer," she said.
"My dad was probably at the end of his career when my ex-boyfriends were born,” she notes.
Love Island starts Monday at 9pm on ITV2.
