Joe Garratt has insisted he "didn’t manipulate or abuse" Lucie Donlan after almost 800 ‘Love Island’ viewers complained to Ofcom about his behaviour.
The 22-year-old sandwich maker was dumped from the ITV2 reality show on Tuesday (18.06.19) after the public voted him out of the villa, following hundreds of Ofcom complaints which were filed by viewers who claimed he was "controlling" his partner Lucie after he told her she should make friends with the other girls rather than the boys.
And since leaving the villa, Joe says he’s "gutted" viewers perceived his actions as abusive, and insists he was only "trying to help her" because she was having "a hard time" on the show.
He said: "I didn’t manipulate or abuse her. I am gutted that it has been perceived in that way because it wasn’t like that at all.
"I always had Lucie’s best interests at heart and I promise you I would do everything and anything to help her because she had a hard time in there and didn’t get on with the girls. I was trying to help her and make her experience as amazing as possible. I thought I did right."
But Joe won’t apologise for his actions, as he is adamant he simply "worded things wrong" and never meant to hurt Lucie’s feelings.
He added: "I am not going to say sorry. I may have worded things wrong and the cameras are on you 24/7. I may have slipped up a bit but I am only human. I am young and inexperienced so maybe some things have come out differently to what they are. I just hope people can see me for who I genuinely am and what I genuinely am. I am not that person."
The hunk believes the "intense nature" of the show is to blame for twisting the way things looked from the outside.
Speaking to The Sun, he said: "For me I was gutted. I had literally met a girl straight away and she blew me away. She is an amazing person.
"It’s hard because on the outside the relationship would build and you would talk frequently and meet once a week and it was like I had these two days with her and they were so fantastic and we got on so well and then you have the spanner chucked in.
"I think the intense nature of it all and when fellow Islanders said stuff to me – it would never bother me normally – but because you are in there and you get told things constantly you are like ‘am I OK with these things’ and I generally was but you feel that heightened pressure and you have these conversations and you have to address things."
Joe’s original comments left Lucie in tears after he suggested she spend more time with the other girls in the villa.
Speaking about her friendship with Tommy Fury, Joe said to her: "I’m not happy with it. It’s strange. I think it’s time for you to get close with the girls."
Joe Garratt: I didn’t abuse Lucie Donlan
