After being accused by influencers of making homophobic statements during a recent event for the skincare brand Space NK, Love Island UK season 10 star Mitchel “Mitch” Taylor is finally responding to those claims, which also involved his costar Zachariah “Zach” Noble. Taylor started out an Instagram live-stream saying:
“Over the weekend, there were a lot of accusations against me and Zach. I do want to start off by apologizing to Zach because these accusations have nothing to do with him. He’s just been dragged straight into them. They are solely about me.”
When it comes to the alleged homophobic claims made by Taylor, the Love Island alum said:
“I spoke to an influencer at the event and my words were, ‘I fancied you when you were straight.’ I can see how that can come across as homophobic, I’m really bad with my words sometimes.”
He continued, “I was just nervous to meet this person because I am a fan. I do apologize. When I’m in scenarios like that, I can’t really get my words out correctly and I was just trying to be as respectful to that person as I could. And I kind of got it completely wrong.”
@love.island.draama Messy Mitch Responds Too Allegations Regarding His Actions At An Event ! 🏝️ #mitchtaylor #messymitch #loveisland #alligations #viral
@love.island.draama Messy Mitch Responds Too Allegations Regarding His Actions At An Event Part 2 ! 🏝️ #mitchtaylor #messymitch #loveisland #allegations #viral
Taylor also used this live-stream to address other accusations against him and Noble.
“The first accusation [pertains to] the words ‘We are the most famous people in here,’” Taylor said. “That is actually true. I said that to Zach as a bit of banter, but it’s been taken the wrong way by other people. I admit it wasn’t really that funny, I was just trying to have a bit of a laugh and a joke.”
When it comes to the accusation that Taylor and Noble “threw money at a homeless person,” Taylor claimed that this is “completely false, I didn’t throw money.” He did admit that he gave money to a person, but alleged that his gesture has been “twisted into an evil act.”
It’s unfortunate that once again the Love Island UK series is attached to alleged anti-LGBTQ sentiments from contestants. While Taylor is justifying that he didn’t mean for his remarks to come across that way, several influencers who were in attendance at the event felt differently about the way he was acting.
Once again the LGBTQ+ community finds itself being disappointed by acts from Love Island stars, innit?