Love Island fans have been questioning Joey Essex about a remark he made regarding his time on The Only Way is Essex (TOWIE) to some of the other Islanders in the villa.
Joey, 33, joined the villa earlier this month for the new series of the ITV2 show, which launched last week. This comes more than a decade after his stint on TOWIE, where he was a cast member from 2011 to 2013. TOWIE was brought up by islander Samantha Kenny, 26, who is currently coupled up with Joey, in the episode of Love Island that aired on Sunday evening. The scene also featured Nicole Samuel, 24, and Ciaran Davies, 21, who are also coupled up.
The group appeared to be referencing quotes from various TV shows, with Samantha and Joey exclaiming, “Shut up!” Nicole then suggested, “We need to stop quoting TV.” It was noted that TOWIE had been one of the shows quoted.
Talking about Joey, Samantha said, “He’s fuming. He hates it!” Nicole then asked him, “Do you hate it, yeah?” Joey responded, “I don’t hate it but I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
Moments later, Samantha referenced a famous TOWIE scene featuring Joey, Gemma Collins, now 43, and her ex-partner James ‘Arg’ Argent, now 36. In the scene, which aired over a decade ago, Gemma showcased her figure in a bikini and told Arg, “Take a good look at this! You ain’t ever gonna get this candy.” Referencing the scene in the villa, Samantha teased, “Well, you know that you ain’t ever getting this candy.” Ciaran replied, “What?” Nicole added, “That’s what the GC does.”
Discussing the iconic TOWIE scene, Joey commented, “I was with my mate in the pool and then some girl walks out and says ‘you ain’t ever getting this candy’. Literally, probably about 11 and a half years ago.” Ciaran remarked, “Samantha, I can’t lie – I feel like you know more about Joey than Joey knows about himself.” Joey teased, “She’s obviously been like researching me and everything.” Samantha replied, “I was just a big TOWIE fan. Leave me alone!”
Fans reacted to the scene on X, formerly known as Twitter, with some viewers suggesting that Joey should have shown “some respect” by naming Gemma. One person wrote, “Joey Essex did NOT just refer to the QUEEN herself Gemma Collins as ‘some girl’….”
Another commented, “‘Some girl’ JOEY! Put some respect on Gemma Collins’ name!!!! Don’t undermine that TOWIE made you!” A third added, “Joey needs to accept TOWIE has so many iconic moments and unfortunately for him, it’s never anything he has said. Put some respect on Gemma Collins’ name. In fact everywhere he goes they should scream GC at him.”
Alongside a laughing emoji, another viewer said, “As if Joey just referred to Gemma Collins as some girl. Respect her please.” Sharing their thoughts, one person commented, “How DARE Joey Essex call the queen GC, ‘Some Girl’.”