Domestic abuse charity labels Love Island’s Jonny Mitchell “possessive and controlling”

A domestic abuse charity has expressed concern over some controlling behaviour on Love Island from contestant Jonny Mitchell.

During an episode of the ITV2 series this week, Jonny was heard saying fellow Islander Theo Campbell would have to prise his love interest Tyla Carr from his “cold dead hands” if he wanted to start a romance with her.

The comment followed a heated argument between the two male contestants, in which Jonny called Theo “a gigantic b*****d” for choosing to couple up with Tyla.

Women’s Aid CEO Polly Neate has since highlighted Jonny’s remarks as “possessive and controlling”.

“When Jonny said that new arrival Theo would have to prise Tyla ‘from my cold dead hands’ it was not romantic,” she wrote on the charity’s website.

“It did not demonstrate how much he liked her. It was possessive and controlling. What can all too easily be passed off as banter, actually carries the underlying sentiment that this man believes he owns this woman.”

She continued: “The fact that Tyla says she was left wanting to run away from a controlling relationship in the past, shows just how easy this sort of behaviour, if unchecked, can slip into a controlling and abusive relationship.”

Theo also pointed out Jonny’s possessive behaviour during the episode. He told Tyla: “He [Jonny] is on you 24/7. To me that shows how insecure he is at the moment and to not even let you out of his grasp, out of his sight… if he can lose his head that easily, imagine you go to a club or something and you get a photo with another boy, he’ll lose his head.”

Love Island continues tonight (Tuesday) at 9pm on ITV2.