Love Island’s Haris Namani ‘devastated’ over fight video after being dumped from villa
Love Island contestant Haris Namani says he is “devastated” to learn that a video of him being involved in a street fight has surfaced.
The 21-year-old TV salesman and boxer from Doncaster, who was competing in the winter season of Love Island in South Africa, was dumped from the villa yesterday (25 January) alongside contestant Anna-May Robey.
On Tuesday (24 January), The Sun published footage showing Namani involved in a street fight. The footage shows the reality star punching a man in the chest, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the floor.
“I’m not a bully, I’m not a f***ing bully,” he was heard shouting during the altercation, while the person from behind the camera says: “Go on, Haris.”
In his exit interview given after leaving the villa, Namani said he was “devastated” to learn the video had been seen by the wider public.
“It’s not a reflection of my character,” he said. “I’m not someone that goes looking for fights and I didn’t want to be in that situation. This was a heat of the moment thing.”
He insisted that the video is not a clear representation of “everything that happened” and that he and the man in the video later “cleared the air” and “shook hands”.
“Afterwards we met up and we cleared the air. We’ve shaken hands and we get along now,” he said, adding: “It’s not something that would happen again.”
It comes after Namani’s father Mehedin insisted the clip was actually two years old and that the two men have since resolved any disagreement between them.
“They’re friends, they shook hands,” Mr Namani said. “This was a long time ago – it’s nothing.”
Speaking about his son, he told MailOnline: “He’s not a bad boy, he’s got a good record. He’s been brought up in the right way.”
Elsewhere in his exit interview, Namani apologised for his “part” in an altercation with fellow Love Island contestant Shaq Muhammad, 24, when an argument – about a beer pong kiss – escalated.
At this point, Namani told Muhammed to “shut the f*** up” and other contestants stepped in to prevent the pair from fighting.
Namani said that he and Muhammad were still friends and that they would be meeting up once Muhammad leaves the villa.
He added: “I said sorry for my part in it and he said the same and that’s it.”
The Independent has contacted ITV for comment.
Love Island returns tonight at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
