Love Island 2023: ‘misrepresented’ ‘villain and simp’ revealed (by themselves)

Winter Love Island 2023's Tanya Manhenga has revealed who was 'misrepresented' in the villa

Tanyel Revan and Tom Clare looking shocked in the Love Island villa

by Nathan Katnoria |
Updated on

We all know that the 45 minutes of Love Island we watch every night isn’t always an accurate representation of what really goes on in the villa. After all, producers have to cut down a whole day into under an hour and they want to make it entertaining.

However, this often leads to Islanders complaining about how they’ve been edited or “misrepresented” on the show and one of this year’s contestants who definitely feels that way is Tanya Manhenga.

Some viewers branded Tanya a “villain” due to her love triangle with Shaq Muhammad and Casa Amor bombshell Martin Akinola, however she’s insisted her portrayal on the show wasn’t always fair.

Tanya sitting in the Love Island Beach Hut
Tanya's admitted she feels 'misrepresented' on the show ©ITV Pictures

Tanya and her boyfriend Shaq were answering questions from fans in a Q&A video on YouTube when one asked, “Do you think you have been misrepresented?”

“Hell yes," Shaq responded as Tanya added, “Come on now.

“I definitely was misrepresented because I was presented as a villain, a silly girl and like I didn’t care about Shaq at all and I was on a high horse and that is not how it was in there.

“If you guys saw what was going on behind closed doors, every single day except for the first and second day of Casa Amor I was crying every single day because I just didn’t want to do anything. I didn’t want to speak to the boys and the girls that were in Casa Amor can vouch for me on this.”

Tanya and Shaq in the Love Island villa
Tanya and Shaq have set the record straight on their time in the villa ©ITV Pictures

She continued, “I didn’t want to speak to anyone. Casa Amor was the hardest thing that’s ever happened to me in my whole life.”

Shaq also admitted he felt misrepresented as he said, “It made it seem like I was this big softie, massive simp [who] took Tanya back just like that. But what you guys didn’t really see was the fact that after Casa Amor me and Tanya didn’t speak for days.

“We didn’t speak at all for days. I’d walk past her and she’d try to give me a little smile, a little wink and flirt or whatever, but we didn’t speak for days. You even saw she was upset around the villa.”

WATCH 'We wasn't allowed to talk for the whole day' Will and Jessie spill the tea | Love Island Secrets

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