Love Island contestant Lola Deal's brother has spoken out in her defence after she faced persistent online criticism following the Casa Amor twist. Okly Deal took to TikTok to address what he called "unsolicited hate" directed at his sister, arguing that viewers were unfairly targeting her.
Background to the Villa Drama
Lola, a former police officer, entered the villa at the start of Series 13 and quickly formed a romance with primary school teacher Sean 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald. Her time in the villa was smooth until Casa Amor tested Fitzy's loyalty. Although Fitzy chose to stay with Lola, it later emerged that newcomer Julia Majchrzak had shown interest in him. Lola confronted Julia, leading to a heated row that has spanned multiple episodes.
Viewers have largely sided with Julia, believing she was entitled to pursue anyone during Casa Amor, and that Lola should direct her anger at Fitzy. The backlash against Lola has been intense, with many calling her a bully.
Brother's Defence
Okly Deal posted a video on TikTok to defend his sister. He stated that Lola's immediate dislike for Julia was understandable, as she was targeting her partner. He explained that Lola's frustration grew because Julia kept bringing up the conflict. "Clearly, she's digging and digging and digging," Okly said. "Which we might not be seeing because we're only watching one hour a day, and we're only seeing the reactions to her digging."
Okly then pointed to the Couple Goals game, where most islanders chose not to double date with Julia and Lorenzo Alessi, specifically citing Julia as the reason. He argued that this shows Julia is not the victim viewers think she is. "If everyone who's there for 24 hours a day is saying the same person's drama, she's probably drama," he continued. "We're watching one hour a day, you've all got the narrative that Lola's a bully and everyone's somehow now bully-circling Julia. Or maybe she just is the drama and they all know it."
Call to Stop Cyberbullying
While acknowledging that Lola "isn't perfect," Okly urged fans to think twice before posting nasty comments. "You're all jumping on a bandwagon here, of going 'Oh we hate her' — it doesn't make any sense," he said. "You're hating someone because she's got an issue with one person. Calling her a bully and all that, but then you're going on her Instagram commenting all these hate comments as a collective to 'support Julia'. Well then you're just bullies, ain't you? You're just cyberbullies. You're actually worse because at least she's got the decency to tell her 'I don't like you.'"
Okly questioned whether the hate was deserved: "Has she done anything that actually deserves the amount of hate she's getting? Absolutely not. Have other people done worse in there? Absolutely. Did she call [Julia] a b***? Yes, she said she's a b*** because she was trying to get with her boyfriend." He noted that Julia also called Jasmine a b**** but did not face the same criticism.
"You're not on there to make friends, as they say, so what's the issue with having drama with one girl? There is no issue," Okly concluded.
Love Island continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
