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Marcel Somerville reveals his estranged wife Rebecca has been left stunned by his appearance in the upcoming series of Love Island All Stars as they thrash out their divorce following her racy texts to a US rapper
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Marcel Somerville has opened up about his betrayal of Gabby Allen, describing his wife cheating on him last year as ‘karma’ for what he did to his Love Island ex.
The Blazin’ Squad star slept with another guest staying at the same hotel he was in with Gabby during a romantic holiday to Mexico, eight months after they left the ITV dating show together. Gabby was left utterly heartbroken and dumped the singer immediately.
In March, Marcel got a bitter taste of his own medicine when he discovered wife Rebecca Vieira had been sending racy messages to rapper Slim Jxmmi. The Mirror revealed how an ‘utterly broken’ Marcel had moved out of the family home he shared with their two kids, after the mother of Slim’s child claimed Rebecca had sent ‘intimate’ messages to her partner. She leaked the messages online and even tagged Rebecca and Marcel in the posts for them to see.
“I did feel like maybe this is karma,” Marcel tells us. “But this was a different relationship. When you’re married you are fully invested. When things happened with Gabby, I made a point of saying to myself, ‘Yes you are in the whirlwind of everything that was going on – because life was crazy at the time – and you messed up, you made a mistake.
“It made me look at myself and think you are never going do that again. You don’t want to be that person. I grew after that situation and I learned a lot. I went into my relationship with Rebecca thinking that Marcel is gone that I was going to become this new version of myself. So I was a family guy, I was doing DIY around the house. I was doing all of those things.
“Rebecca was a younger than me, so maybe I was at a new stage of my life but she wasn’t in the same place. I can’t really answer what she was really thinking. But I became a better person after the Gabby situation. Whatever happens next I’m going to keep being that better person.”
Marcel admits at first he tried to forgive Rebecca but the shock was too much to get over: “I never expected something like this would happen in my life.
“You do put up walls, you do create new boundaries. It’s hard to put your heart on your sleeve again and trust someone straight away. I always say, ‘I’ll trust you until you show me that I can’t.’”
As Marcel and Rebecca continue to thrash out their divorce, the singer is returning to Love Island All Stars a single man – and no-one was more shocked to hear about his dating show comeback than his wife.
“I had to tell Rebecca that I wasn’t going to be around for a few weeks,” he reveals. “She said: ‘I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this is happening’, but I think she got to a point of understanding that our relationship has broken down. We’re going through a divorce. It’s got to get to a point where you have to start moving forward and living your life separately.
“For her it was a shock because she was she wasn’t expecting it to happen, but at the same time she’s accepting of the situation because she made a mistake. I can’t put my life on hold when opportunities like this come up.”
Marcel says he’s had no romantic relations since discovering Rebecca’s infidelity – meaning his first kiss after his marriage broke down could happen during one of Love Island’s raucous challenges.
“I never thought of that,” he says. “It actually might make it easier. If your first kiss is something passionate and you’ve met someone and you’re trying to make a thing with them there’s more pressure. Kissing in a game it will just be like ‘Well that’s done! I don’t have to think about that now!’”
One fellow singleton who Marcel will meet in the villa is his ex Gabby, who he hasn’t spoken to in six years.
“We saw each other after the drama ensued and we had a heart to heart conversation and hugged at the end of it. I haven’t seen her since,” he reveals. “So obviously if she was to go back in there, I don’t think it would be awkward or anything between us. Gabby is a lovely person. We could be friends and I might even end up her wingman in there.”
But Marcel says he’s not entirely ‘friend zoning’ Gabby for now: “Never say never. I did something to hurt her. Sometimes when someone hurts you there’s no going back. You don’t want to go back on the ex-bus. If she was in there if there were opportunities that she wanted to like follow… I’d say do your thing and let me help you if I can.
“But I mean like if she did want to rekindle with me then who knows what could happen?”
Love Island All Stars starts Monday, 13th January at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX
