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Joe Garratt's Family Speak Out On Backlash He's Received After 'Love Island' Eviction

Ciara Sheppard

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Joe Garratt's Family Speak Out On Backlash He's Received After 'Love Island' Eviction

Featured Image Credit: ITV/Instagram

Last night saw Joe Garratt exit the Love Island villa after receiving the fewest public votes, along with fellow contestant Elma Pazar.

Following his exit, Joe will no doubt learn his name has been a hot topic after fans voiced concerns he was exhibiting "controlling" behaviour towards Lucie.

Now, the 22-year-old's family and friend's have spoken out about the furore, saying it is "unfair and non representative of Joe's true character."

Viewers complained about his behaviour towards the blonde surfer on Twitter, while the show saw more than 300 complaints to TV watchdog Ofcom, and Women's Aid accused him of "possessive" behaviour.

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In an Instagram post on Joe's page, his family wrote: "Speaking on behalf of Joe's best friends, we acknowledge Joe will come out to some warranted criticism.

"However, we deem the majority of it to be unfair and non representative of Joe's true character.

"The producers have the ability to show someone in a particular light, choosing just 45 mins of footage from 24 hours to tell a certain narrative"

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Since his departure, Joe's friends and family have sent messages of support on social media.

One of Joe's relative's Jessica Garratt, wrote: "How can anyone portray him as anything more than a beautiful loving boy!?!"

Friend Curtis Grant, wrote: "No matter what anyone says this will always be a bro. Still proud."

Credit: Instagram
Credit: Instagram
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Credit: Instagram
Credit: Instagram
Credit: Instagram
Credit: Instagram

In response to the family's claims of unfair editing, ITV told Pretty52 "What airs on Love Island is a fair and accurate representation of what happens in the villa."

The criticism began just three days in when Joe said that he couldn't "trust" Lucie after she went on a date with Tommy Fury, set up by producers.

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Things escalated when the catering company owner left 21-year-old Lucie in tears after telling her it was "strange" that she spent an excessive amount of time with boxer Tommy, who she has a close friendship with. "I'm not happy with it - it's strange," he said at the time.

Joe was even likened to Joe from Netflix series, You, which sees the character become instantly obsessed with a stranger.

On Tuesday, Lucie's mum, Cellie Donlan, said she has no fears for her daughter, telling the Mail Online: "Lucie should stay on the show. We've got no worries over her what so ever, she's very happy. The support given to her and us as a family by ITV has been amazing."

Credit: ITV
Credit: ITV
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Earlier in the month, Pretty52 spoke to relationship experts, Emma Kenny and Jo Hemmings, about their take on Joe's behaviour towards Lucie.

According to Emma, Joe's behaviour when he deemed Lucie untrustworthy after her date with Tommy was "very immature" and may be a red flag.

Emma added that Joe was already being super "territorial" over Lucie just three days into the villa and had become "instantly invested" in their relationship, despite them being relative strangers.

Jo echoed this, saying that Joe was displaying "both needy and possessive behaviour towards Lucie".

Credit: ITV
Credit: ITV

She added: "He's clearly got pretty smitten, pretty quickly and that's OK, it's just he seems to lack the maturity to keep cool about it and also the confidence to think that it might ultimately play his way, if he can just keep that cool.

"Unfortunately, by not masking his feelings to a better extent, he is likely to push away Lucie as she starts to feel guilty and uncomfortable with him."

Around the time that Joe complained about Lucie hanging out with the boys, Adina Claire of Women's Aid told The Sun: "Controlling behaviour is never acceptable.

"With Love Island viewers complaining about Joe's possessive behaviour towards Lucie, more people are becoming aware of this and want to challenge it.

"Abusive relationships often start off with subtle signs of control."

Love Island continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2 where viewers will see the fallout of Joe and Elma's departure. A teaser from tonight's episode showed an upset Lucie weighing up whether she should stay in the villa without Joe.

Topics: Entertainment News, TV & Film, Love Island

Ciara Sheppard
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