LOVE Island bosses have been accused by fans of caring more about ratings than Sherif Lanre as the nation continues to speculate on truth behind his exit.
The 20-year-old chef was booted out of the villa on Tuesday for "breaking the rules", and no further explanation has been given.
While Sherif said his departure – which wasn't a criminal act – was down to his "poor judgement", speculation has reached fever pitch over why bosses gave him his marching orders.
Fake text messages accusing him of carrying out a sex act have gone viral, while another series of messages falsely claimed he had fought with fellow islander Anton Danyluk, 24.
The Sun revealed how show bosses are desperate cover up the reason Sherif was axed — fearing another scandal could end the money-spinning show.
But after it was revealed Sherif would not appear on spin-off show After Sun to give his side of the story, and his exit was ignored on the official podcast, many furious viewers think something truly terrible has happened.
Taking to Twitter to air their frustrations at being kept in the dark, one angry fan wrote alongside pictures of Sherif after he was photographed arriving back home in London: "I actually feel bad for sherif. Guy looks depressed after being deported man.
"Can see why folk are talking about the shows aftercare. Can’t even tell us what he did.
"He’s being vilanized and embarrassed for no reason."
Another added: "OK I'm annoyed now. We the viewers, who are invested in the show, need an explanation about sherif.
"More importantly, Sherif needs them to give us the explanation to stop all these stupid rumours about him. If they'd just said, it would have been squashed by now."
A third agreed, writing: "Bet the producers haven’t said why Sherif has been kicked out so we all tune in and tweet our conspiracy theories #loveisland all about the ratings and viewsssss."
In his statement, Sherif said: "In a case of poor judgement, I broke the villa rules and as a result agreed with the producers that it was best for me to leave the villa.
"I regret that I didn’t conduct myself in the right way and, as a 20 year old guy, it’s something I know I will take on board and learn from.
"I really enjoyed my time in the villa and look forward to catching up with everyone on the outside."
A Love Island spokesperson added at the time: "After breaking the villa rules Sherif had conversations with the producers and it was mutually agreed that he would leave the Love Island villa."
However, a fellow viewer felt the producers seemed to care more about ratings than Sherif's wellbeing, tweeting: "@ITV and @LoveIsland saying they take mental health seriously, however, they don’t understand the implications the accusations swirling online of why Sherif was removed could be on him; just say why and let him move on."
Others were equally angry with show bosses, with one writing: "Catching up with #loveisland and it's so this series that they've avoided showing the most interesting thing to happened so far.
"Also think ITV have acted appallingly not revealing the reason Sherif left and allowing rumours to spiral. So much for improving mental health stuff."
Another added: "#loveisland letting conspiracy theories circulate without clarification, possibly effecting & embarrassing #sherif, after the already recognised #mentalhealth issues of previous contestants is disgusting. Surely more protection is needed or the situation handled better?"
The Sun Online has contacted a representative for Love Island for comment.
Source: Read Full Article