Gemma Owen has revealed she was beforehand approached for Love Island forward of the 2021 sequence however turned it down.
The dressage rider, 19, made it to the ultimate of this yr’s sequence of Love Island alongside Luca Bish, 23, the place the pair completed as runners-up.
The pair are actually having fun with their time collectively out of the Villa (though they nonetheless aren’t official), however Gemma has instructed followers issues might have been very completely different.
The teenager was initially supplied the possibility to be a part of the Love Island course of final yr when she was 18 however determined in opposition to it.
In her first YouTube video, she defined why she initially didn’t tackle the chance, and what swayed her to do it this yr.
She shared: ‘I obtained approached final yr and due to my driving, it was my busiest time.
‘I went to the European Championships final yr, so I used to be like, no means I used to be going to take two months out of the summer time.
‘I used to be nonetheless not likely feeling it, I’d simply arrange my enterprise and nonetheless wished to marketing campaign with my driving.’
When Gemma obtained approached once more this yr, she was in a special place along with her driving marketing campaign, which freed up time to go on the present.
She continued: ‘After a couple of competitions at the beginning of the season, my driving wasn’t going to go the best way I wished it to and I just about dominated myself out from the season right away.
‘I needed to get a couple of qualifying scores at sure competitions however I didn’t.
‘The extra I obtained into it, the extra I obtained a really feel of it, I simply cherished it and everybody was so pretty. The entire thought, I used to be like, that is what u[‘m going to be doing in the summer.’
However, it didn’t come without its concerns, as she was worried an appearance on the programme could affect her riding.
Gemma revealed the questions she had, adding: ’Am I going to be taken seriously again back in the dressage world, am I going to get back to the top? Back to an international level?
‘Secondly, going on a show like that sometimes can have a bit of stigma and labelled with a certain kind of thing, wanted to keep my image very clean and come across very classy.’
But she has no regrets about her time, calling it ’the best summer of my life’ which comes in the same week she signed a mega brand deal with Pretty Little Thing.
Love Island can be streamed in full now on the ITV Hub.
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