Winter Love Island 's Connor Durman has apologised for past racist comments he made to his ex girlfriend which were leaked to the press in January.
He wrote a lengthy Instagram apology saying that the recent Black Lives Matter protests had made him realise his actions were wrong.
He allegedly sent text messages to his ex, Stevie-Leigh Pich, calling her a "sl*g" and a "sl*t" for sleeping with black men, and said it was "rank" and "grim".
And during last year's Love Island series, Connor and his ex discussed Ovie Soko - leading Connor to tell Stevie that her "liking black boys" was "such a put off".
"During my time in lockdown and seeing the BLM movement, it has given me time to reflect on my past and comments made during a heated conversation between myself and my ex-girlfriend, before my time in Love Island 2019.
"Firstly I would like to say I’m extremely sorry for my inappropriate and racist remarks written in the message.
"I completely failed to think about my words and ended up saying something hurtful and insensitive, when I was in an angry and emotional state of mind, talking privately with someone close to me.
"The comments made were not a true reflection of the Connor Durman you all know today.
"However I understand now, there is no excuse for reinforcing racist comments.
"I will think very hard about my assumptions and phrasing from here on out and I hope to have an opportunity to show what I have learnt, listened to and importantly understood during the BLM movement."
He also denied being racist, and admitted he still has a lot to learn and is grateful for the BLM movement for educating him.
He concluded: "I plan to use my influence and social platforms positively, expressing in line with the peaceful protests that is it time for a permanent change."
Connor was coupled up with Sophie Piper on the show before he was dumped from the island and she moved on.
They were later seen on dates together but reportedly did not manage to make things last away from the South Africa villa.
