Love Island star Mitchel Taylor has been dropped by his management company just two months after leaving the villa as he faces accusations of homophobic behaviour at a recent awards ceremony.
The former gas engineer, 27, shared a statement to his social media accounts on Monday, responding to accusations that he is ‘homophobic’ and that he abused a homeless man at last weeks Space NK event.
Mitch has denied the accusations and explained that fellow Islander Zachariah Noble ‘had nothing to do with it’.
A source exclusively told MailOnline: ‘He’s put up a video because he’s had a lot of flak this week.’
The source added: ‘His management have parted way with him. He’s only been out of the villa two months and they can’t put up with it.’
EXCLUSIVE: Love Island star Mitchel Taylor has been dropped by his management company just two months after leaving the villa as he faces accusations of homophobic behaviour at a recent awards ceremony
It comes after the two Love Island stars are said to have been removed from the star-studded event this week for being ‘homophobic’ and abusing a homeless man.
In a new video, Mitch addressed the accusations by saying: ‘I’m making this statement because over the weekend there were a lot of accusations against me and Zach.
‘I do want to start off by apologising to Zach because these accusations had nothing to do with him, he has just been dragged straight into them, they are solely about me.
‘I do want to talk about each one individually and obviously put it to bed and give my side of the story. The first accusation is the words “we are the most famous people in here” and that is actually true, I said that to Zach as a bit of banter but it has been taken the wrong way from other people and I admit it wasn’t really that funny, I was just trying to have a bit of a laugh and a joke.’
He continued: ‘Going on to the next accusation would be me throwing money at a homeless person, that is completely false, I didn’t throw money. It was a kind gesture to give a homeless person money and it has been twisted into an evil act and it isn’t true I was trying to do a kind gesture.
‘I will admit when I was at this event I was quite happy and loud, it is a completely different world for me this, I’ve gone from fitting boilers to a fancy event and it can come across unprofessional and I understand that.
‘Whoever saw me at that event I do want to apologise to as well, I just don’t know how to handle myself in these situations, it’s all new to me but I am really trying to adjust to this lifestyle.’
Fame: The reality star, also known as ‘Messy Mitch’, appeared on the 2023 summer series of the ITV2 dating show
Speaking out: The former gas engineer, 27, shared a statement to his social media accounts on Monday responding to accusations that he is ‘homophobic’ and abused a homeless man at last weeks Space NK event
Speaking about the serious homophobic accusations, Mitch said: ‘This is probably the biggest accusations out of them all about being homophobic. I spoke to an influencer at the event and my words were, “I fancied you when you were straight”.
‘I can see how that can come across as homophobic, I’m really bad with my words sometimes, I was just nervous to meet this person because I am a fan.
‘I do apologise, it’s just when I’m in scenarios like that I can’t really get my words out correctly and I was just trying to be as respectful to that person as I could and I kind of got it completely wrong.
‘Obviously want to end on this, I do think you deserve the truth, i have to be blatantly honest with what went down and I do apologise that the statements took so long to come across, I had to take time away from social media over the weekend
‘The amount of hate, death threats and horrible comments I’ve been getting I just couldn’t deal with it, so I just had to take some time away. Hopefully that has cleared things up and moving forward I just want you to know I’m not homophobic, I never have been, I’m just bad with my words sometimes and I hoped you can understand.’
Mitch has been approached by MailOnline for comment.
Zach also responded to the accusations by sharing a lengthy post to his Instagram Stories on Monday.
He started by penning: ‘What a long week it’s been. I’m embarrassed to have to address this and never imagined I’d be here writing this.
‘Over the past few days, I’ve received a number of hateful messages regarding accusations from last week that are currently circulating on the internet. So I would like to address this from my side and give clarity that the narrative circulating about me is 100% untrue. never in my life have I been homophobic and any insinuation of this is extremely wrong & hurtful.
‘I am truly saddened to hear that someone was upset that evening but this had nothing to do with me. I wasn’t even present at the time of this incident/misunderstanding.’
Accusations: Mitch has denied the accusations and explained that fellow Islander Zachariah Noble ‘had nothing to do with it’
Hitting back: Zach also responded to the accusations by sharing a lengthy post to his Instagram Stories on Monday
Zach added: ‘We live in a society where everyone wants to consider mental health & look out for one another, yet there’s still some people online who have clearly forgotten how impactful their words can be and just jump on bang wagons. Everyone is so quick to judge and believe anything they hear and read. Even if it’s untrue.
We really need to realise how powerful words can be & find out the real facts before coming at people, especially people with high platforms as it’s these people who have pushed this false narrative onto my name. And influence the way people think.
He signed off by saying: ‘This is all I have to say on the matter and I hope it brings you lot closure.’
MailOnline has contacted Zach’s representatives for comment.
It comes after social media influencer Ashleigh Huish, who attended the event, shared a video on social media where she referred to the two reality stars as ‘vile pieces of s**t’ who turned up to the bash uninvited.
In the now-deleted clip, she claimed the stars threw money at a homeless man who was begging on the street outside and were also ‘incredibly homophobic’ at the event.
Another person who attended the event also made similar claims on social media.
The woman in the video said: ‘The event was slightly soiled on by two Love Islanders who are just the most vile pieces of s**t that I believe could ever have walked the planet.
‘Turns out they weren’t even invited, they just turned up. Do you know what they said? I don’t even know if I can say this out loud without cringing because I’m embarrassed for them: ‘We’re actually the most famous people here.’
‘They’re bowling around like the most famous people there, which is embarrassing.’
Speaking out: Social media influencer Ashleigh Huish, who attended the event shared a video on social media where she referred to the two reality stars as ‘vile pieces of s**t’ who turned up uninvited
Recounting the alleged incident with the homeless man, the woman added: ‘But where I draw the line is where I am stood outside in the rain with my friend having a chat and this homeless man walks past.
‘He’s like, “has anybody got any money?” and [the Love Islander] puts his hand in his pocket, pulls out money and throws it at him. I see this with my own eyes.
‘So the homeless man has to pick it up. They then proceeded to be incredibly homophobic and that is when the organisers were told and made them leave immediately because they do not tolerate homophobia or any other kind of disgusting behaviour.
‘And when they heard what happened with the homeless man, they took zero tolerance and kicked them out.’
‘There was other things that happened as well but I didn’t see any of that. So I can’t speak of that but they were the most obnoxious, disgusting, vile cretins I’ve been in the room with.
‘I have never been in contact with two people who are so out of touch of reality and their behaviour is so disgusting.’
