Love Island's George Knight has addressed Toni Laites calling him a 'jump scare' on The Debrief podcast. The footballer entered the villa alongside Yasmin Hadlow as the first bombshells of the series, with the task of dumping someone after 24 hours.
Fans reacted to their entrance, as did Love Island: The Debrief hosts and former contestants Toni Laites, Shakira Khan, and Yasmin Pettet. Toni faced backlash after saying: 'No shade, George is a jump scare, I would be p----- if I saw him walk in. I'm not going to lie.' Shakira defended him, saying: 'No, let him cook!'
Following George's sensational exit from the show after just days, he addressed Toni's comment in an interview with The Sun, suggesting it was an attempt to stay 'relevant'. He noted that one of his best friends is dating Toni's manager, adding: 'I think that was a bit of an awkward one.'
George shared his thoughts: 'Everyone's entitled to their opinion and I could give two... I'm not bothered.' However, he added: 'If the roles had been reversed and a guy had said that about a girl, I think it would have blown up even more.'
He also joked about his appearance: 'I don't think that lighting did me any favours walking in. Blondes in that sun, I did look like a Targaryen.' Directly responding to Toni, he said: 'Fair play, everyone's striving to be relevant and that was going to be a bold comment. Shakira had my back which I'm very grateful for.'
The Dorking Wanderers player concluded: 'I've been called worse, horrible things on a football pitch, by fans my entire life. So getting called a jump scare doesn't really bother me.'
