Tasha Ghouri, a 23-year-old model and dancer from Thirsk, North Yorkshire, who was born deaf and wears a cochlear implant, has been subjected to vile trolling since entering the Love Island villa. Her father, Tarek, has spoken out against the abuse, describing it as 'shocking' and 'horrific'.
Tarek said: 'It’s nasty and it’s unnecessary. It makes me stick to the stomach, actually. The rest of our family and her friends all feel the same way. It isn’t nice for anybody to read that. So it is difficult. I mean, you can kind of try and brush it off. Well, some of it just sits with you. It’s hard.'
Before filming began, the family received social media training from ITV and were assured that Tasha would receive support after leaving the villa. However, Tarek has still called for kindness from viewers, uniting with other contestants' families to condemn the 'abhorrent' trolling.
He added: 'Don’t take it out on other people when their families, their grandmas, their mothers, they’re watching it. And maybe people don’t think about that, the hate stuff, some of the horrible comments. I don’t know what fuels people to even think like that and get so emotionally involved and attached to somebody else’s life. And they don’t even know them. It’s quite bizarre. We’ve got no place for hate comments because this show’s about love.'
