Love Island runner-up Shakira Khan has spoken out about her villa fallout with co-stars Meg and Helena, amid thousands of Ofcom complaints over alleged bullying. The 22-year-old reality star, who finished second alongside boyfriend Harry Cooksley, revealed she was treated as a 'threat' from the start.
Explaining the rift, Shakira said: 'What it stems from is on day one or day two I was put in a position where I had to graft and so was deemed as a threat. From then on, I was treated differently.' She formed a close bond with winner Toni Laities, noting: 'When you are a threat to someone's relationship you are not going to be the best of pals.'
The drama intensified when Shakira and Meg clashed on camera, telling each other they would 'never' be friends outside the villa. Fans accused producers of unfair editing, with one writing: 'Why aren’t they showing when Meg kept talking bad about Shakira? It’s not fair that Shakira is getting all this heat.' Ofcom received over 9,000 complaints about the series, many citing bullying towards Shakira.
Shakira was also involved in a love triangle with Harry and his ex Helena. After seeing video clips, both women broke down as they learned the truth. Harry later told Shakira: 'I have really tried with her [Helena], but we had like a week and it was, for me, the feelings were obviously way stronger and still are.' Shakira advised him to consider how his actions hurt others, saying: 'It’s obviously the way you go about it and the steps you take in between to come to these conclusions obviously hurt people along the way.'
