Love Island bosses have issued a statement on behalf of Danny Bibby as the new arrival has found himself in a race row before he even set foot in the villa.
The 25-year-old plumber is yet to even enter the villa, with his arrival teased at the end of last night's episode ahead of his date with Kaz Kamwi.
But it didn't take long for eagle-eyed fans to comb through his Instagram account, where they came across a comment where he used the ‘N word’.
As fans took to social media to ‘demand’ that he is removed from the show, ITV have issued a statement on behalf of Danny’s dad in defence of his son.
In the statement, Danny's dad Richard said: "Danny does not have a racist bone in his body and there were no racist intentions to this post.
“Although it was not done maliciously, it was a mistake. I absolutely apologise on his behalf for the offence this wording may have caused.
“That would never have been his intention."
The comment happened 85 weeks ago in November 2019, under a post where Danny is posing in a bold leaf-patterned shirt.
A friend commented: "Champ" and a fist-bump emoji, and Danny replied: "My n****".
Drawing attention to the use of the offensive slur, one eagle eyed user commented underneath : "I would take this down".
The post has since been removed but fans have taken to social media and Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator to call for his removal from the show.
One said: “Do you lot remember the quickness they remove Sherif from the villa? I need the same thing done with Danny.”
Meanwhile another said: “It doesn't sit well with me about how not enough ppl are getting angry over Danny using a racial slur or how I'm still having to explain to non black ppl why saying the n word is racist.”
Others accused ITV of not doing enough research on the islanders, while others were outraged that Kaz was being sent on a date with a man who had publicly used a racist slur.
Meanwhile, others have claimed that new bombshell Danny Bibby is "only on the show for the money" after a pal shared Danny's Love Island promo pic and said: "Come on lad, bring that money home".
It was reposted to Danny's Story - and after fans picked up on the message it was promptly removed from his social media page.
Danny is set to enter the famous villa in tonight's show, with last night’s episode ending as Kaz got ready to head off on their date.
When contacted by Irish Mirror, ITV issued a statement from Danny’s father.
When asked if Danny will remain in the villa, the ITV spokesperson added: “I have no further comment at this time.”
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