Harrison Solomon was met with backlash over his love triangle with Toni Laites and Lauren Wood on the new series of Love Island, and he’s now addressed it following his departure
Former Love Island star Harrison Solomon has addressed the backlash that he received from viewers. The islander had been criticised by fans amid a love triangle with his co-stars Toni Laites and Lauren Wood whilst in the villa.
Harrison, 22, attracted attention on the ITV2 show for what he described as a “back-and-forth” between his connections with Toni, 24, and Lauren, 26. This included him sleeping with Lauren while estranged from Toni and then encouraging Toni to choose him at the next recoupling.
After recoupling with Toni, footballer Harrison ended up continuing to pursue things with Lauren more recently. Lauren was dumped from the villa last week by the actions of a bombshell and Harrison later left to reunite with her.
During his time on the show, Harrison faced criticism from viewers. And last week, amid his stint on Love Island, a spokesperson for Women’s Aid issued a statement to the Tab, which included mention of women being “lied to, slut-shamed and manipulated, as well as laughed at behind their backs.”
Harrison has now addressed the “backlash” in an interview with the Daily Mail, saying he has found it “hard to digest”. He told the outlet: “I would disagree with a lot of it in terms of my respect for women, I do respect women.”
He said that the “worst” reaction had been from Women’s Aid. He said: “I know myself and the girls on the show too, Toni said she knows I’m not a bad person, just went about situations in the wrong way, but the Women’s Aid statement wasn’t nice … it’s not nice coming out of the villa to my mum upset by that so I would say that’s been the hardest.”
Harrison said that he is “sorry” to the women that he has “hurt,” before saying that he “got it wrong”. He added that the “back and forth” between his connections with Lauren and Toni ended up causing “more harm” than he intended. He however said that it wasn’t “an ego thing”.
The former islander said he isn’t proud of the way he handled things in the villa and won’t “make excuses”. Harrison said that he just wants to “own it” and assured: “If people can give me the space to grow from it, I will do everything I can to be better, and that’s the only thing I can do.”
Harrison added that there’s “no handbook” for dealing with being on a reality TV show like Love Island, which is based on “instincts” and “intentions”. He told the outlet that whilst he got “some of it right,” he also “got a lot of it wrong”.
It’s been suggested that the statement by Women’s Aid particularly upset Harrison due to his relationship with his mother and younger sister. He told the outlet that he prides himself on “standing up for women,” as well as being a “protector,” but is “disappointed” over how he handled himself in the villa.
His comments come just days after viewers saw Harrison quit the show, a day after Lauren was dumped from the villa. Shortly before his departure from the villa, a tearful Harrison had apologised to Toni.
He told her before leaving: “I want you to know that I genuinely am sorry for the way that I’ve treated you in here. […] I think with me being indecisive in here and trying to spare people’s feelings, I feel like I’ve hurt yours more.”
Harrison said: “Deep down, you know I’ve got a good heart but I’ve just not gone about things the right way in here.” Toni went on tell Harrison: “I know you’re not a bad person but you’ve got a big head and you treated me like s**t repeatedly.” He replied: “I know, I’m sorry for that.”
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