Joey Essex throws a strop before being dumped from Love Island

Joey Essex has been left less than impressed after being slammed during a tense Love Island elimination.

The reality star, 33, came under fire throughout his time in the villa, first when being cast and then for his behaviour throughout.

However, he’s now been dumped by his fellow Islanders who had previously been sent home themselves.

Returning to the villa, the ex-Islanders had the power to decide which couple should be dumped from the Island.

Sam, Patsy, Munveer, Samantha, Omar, Harriett, Ronnie, Uma, Wil, Jess, Hugo, Grace and Reuben all also chose the couple they thought shouldn’t make it to the final and shared their reasoning.

However, while being called out and criticised by many of them, Joey hit back.

It all kicked off with Patsy saying she believed Joey and Jessy had ‘the least genuine connection’ and accused him of having a ‘game plan’.

Hugo then said Joey jumping between girls left him thinking he might have also tried to pursue Lola if it ‘wasn’t so close to the final’.   

The comments didn’t stop there, with Reuben going on to say Jessy wouldn’t be able to ‘keep up’ with Joey’s lifestyle, while another said he ‘constantly put her in a position of embarrassment’.

Ruben then got into a tense back-and-forth with Joey after saying he ‘disagrees with the way he handles relationships’.

However, hitting back, Joey said he ‘never cared about his opinion’ and accused Ruben of being ‘a very jealous person’.

When it came time for the women he was previously coupled up with, Joey faced even more backlash.

‘He has a lot of opinions on everyone else’s relationship, but as soon as it comes to his own, he bites the bullet a bit,’ she said.

The pair then got into an argument after she accused him of playing her after saying they never had a ‘spark’ and rolling his eyes at her comments.

Grace then didn’t hold back.

‘He has strong opinions and gets involved in things where his opinion is quite irrelevant and she feels the need to constantly back him,’ she said.

When asked by host Maya Jama what she thought of what had just unfolded, Jessy said she ‘wish Joey didn’t p*** that many people off’ so they could come back ‘and kick us out’.

Clearly annoyed though, he waved his hand and declared ‘laters’ while walking away.

However he went on to say that despite the drama, he was ‘happy to be leaving with Jessy’.

Speaking after the show, Joey said he wasn’t surprised to be sent home and that he ‘never expected to win the show’.

However, Jessy said she believed some of the ex-Islanders had a ‘personal vendetta’ against Joey.

Watching on at home, many viewers loved seeing the drama unfold.

‘Although it took this long for Joey to be dumped from the island, this is the best dumping I’ve ever seen in my life,’ user Julzz posted on X.

‘Joey and Jessy getting dumped because everyone hates Joey is comical lmaoo,’ Tony commented.

‘Joey being kicked out by all the former islanders was an incredibly satisfying end to this season, it’s like all his actions came back to haunt him. God the *audacity* of him to say that he and Samantha were a friendship couple, that isn’t true at all,’ Erin added.

Despite some of the backlash from viewers, ITV has announced the show is the ‘biggest reality show of the past decade’ after having 400 shows being the most watched programme of the day for 16-34 year olds, reaching the milestone this season.

It is currently averaging 1 million viewers across 16-34s while this season has also seen a 24% increase in streaming figures on ITVX compared to the most recent summer season.

The premiere of the current season has also had 3.3 million viewers, making it the biggest launch since 2022.

Love Island continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2.

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