Tarek Ghouri, father of Love Island contestant Tasha Ghouri, has spoken out about the 'horrific' and 'nasty' online abuse directed at his daughter since she appeared on the ITV2 show. The 55-year-old told The Mirror that some comments have left him 'sick to his stomach'.
Tasha, 23, is the show's first deaf contestant and wears a cochlear implant. Tarek highlighted the ableist nature of the trolling, including one comment describing her as a 'deaf w***e'. He said the family discussed potential negativity before the show but admitted they were unprepared for the scale of the abuse.
Despite receiving social media training from ITV2, Tarek described the onslaught as overwhelming. In response, families and friends of several Islanders released a joint statement on Instagram declaring 'hate has no place here'. The statement, shared by Tasha, Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, Andrew Le Page, Dami Hope, Indiyah Polack, and Gemma Owen, called for kindness and unity.
Tarek also detailed the daily challenges Tasha faces due to her deafness, including mental exhaustion from lip-reading and processing sounds in a noisy villa environment. He praised her for representing the deaf community and encouraged positive messages.
