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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Zoe Delaney

Michael Owen 'doesn't want any stick' as he breaks silence after daughter Gemma's split

Michael Owen, 42, has broken his silence following his daughter Gemma Owen's recent break up.

The former Liverpool FC player is currently in Qatar ahead of the World Cup kicking off this weekend and has taken to his Twitter account to share his thoughts on the upcoming tournament.

Before revealing his predictions for the World Cup, Michael joked this afternoon: "I don't want any of you giving me stick straight away - if you're going to give me stick, put down the team that you fancy to win. If you do give me stick, I will be able [to know] if your pick was better than mine."

After sharing his top picks to lift the trophy next month, the dad-of-four signed off saying: "Enjoy the World Cup everyone and come on the Three Lions, we've got a chance as well!"

Dressage rider Gemma, 19, stunned Luca Bish on Wednesday night thanks to announcing their split to her followers on Instagram without warning the fishmonger from Brighton.

Luca, 23, took to social media himself shortly after Gemma's shock statement to share his side of the story with his own Instagram followers.

Luca Bish and Gemma Owen's love story has been short and sweet (Matt Frost/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
As Love Island aired over the summer, fans mocked how keen Luca was to meet Gemma's famous dad (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

During former couple's time in the Love Island villa, many viewers of the ITV2 show joked Luca was 'desperate' to meet Gemma famous father, footballing icon Michael.

The Brighton-based fishmonger was finally introduced to the former England striker on Thursday August 11 – 10 days after leaving he and Gemma came runners-up in the live Love Island final.

Luca joined the Owen family on holiday in Portugal and bonded with Gemma's loved ones throughout the trip, but couldn't resist making a cheeky dig at Michael on social media at one point shortly after the getaway.

Luca looked delighted to get in a snap with Gemma's dad back in September (manorhousestables/instagram)

As Michael shared a snap of himself alongside wife Louise, his daughters Jessica, 12, and Emily, 14, and son James, 16, the retired footballer noted Gemma's absence from the picture - captioning the post: "Family -1."

Luca cheekily implied he was part of the Owen clan too, as wrote underneath Michael's post: "-2*."

Gemma also contributed to the light-hearted banter, commenting: "I was there for 4 days and you wait til I leave to get a family picture."

Love Island fans were not surprised to hear Gemma and Luca had split (ITV)

Despite almost winning this year's series of Love Island - missing out to Davide Sanclimenti and Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu - many fans of the ITV2 show predicted Gemma and Luca would be the first couple from the final to split.

As the former couple attended a Love Island reunion party in August, Gemma and Luca were snapped looking glum as they walked into a hotel separately - with Luca admitting Gemma was in a mood with him.

As Gemma attempted to cover her face as she headed into the hotel, Luca was left trailing behind her with her handbag in tow.

Gemma and Luca managed to enjoy a few holidays together before parting ways (Instagram)

Sensing some tension between the lovebirds, a photographer quipped to Luca: "You've got your hands full there!"

The reality TV star replied: "Oh don't mate! She's got the right hump with me!"

Confirming his split from Gemma on Wednesday night, Luca wrote on his Instagram Stories: "Switched my phone back on after taking some time out to clear my head after an emotional afternoon to thousands of messages and news articles about my breakup."

He savagely added: "I would have liked some time to process this privately but as you all already now know sadly Gemma and I made the mutual decision earlier today to go our separate ways.

Luca was unaware of Gemma's plans to announce their split (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

"We have been on such a journey together and have made some amazing memories which I will treasure. I can't thank everyone enough for their support for us as a couple during and after Love Island.

"We will remain good friends and I wish nothing but the best for her."

Luca's statement followed Gemma originally being the one to break the news of the split earlier in the evening.

"To all my followers, I wanted to let you know that Luca and I are no longer in a relationship," the PrettyLittleThing ambassador told her fans on Instagram.

She added: "It wasn't an easy decision but ultimately this is what is best for both of us right now.

"Many of you have been on this journey with us from the very beginning, and I want to thank you for your continued support as we start new chapters."

Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at webcelebs@mirror.co.uk or call us direct at 0207 29 33033

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