SEVEN YEARS LATER, THE SHO-CKING TRUTH FINALLY EMERGES! Love Island Star Breaks Silence on the Infamous Molly-Mae Villa Exit
NO Love Island fan could forget the moment the most famous series was rocked by a HUGE scandal that got everybody talking – involving the show’s most famous star EVER.
Now, seven years on, chef Sherif Lanre is exclusively telling The Sun exactly what happened when he ‘kicked’ Molly-Mae Hague and the moment Love Island bosses woke him from his sleep to boot him out of the villa for good.
Sherif Lanre has opened up on his famous axing from Love Island in 2019Credit: Rex Features
An incident between Sherif and Molly-Mae led to his abrupt dismissal from the programmeCredit: ITV
Just days into the programme’s iconic fifth series, which was racking up millions of views a night, the nation was stunned when it was revealed that Islander Sherif had been axed from the programme’s villa with immediate effect, under a cloud of mystery.
It was soon uncovered that a late-night incident in which Sherif accidentally kicked Molly-Mae in her crotch area had led to his swift dismissal.
The pair were cleaning their teeth in the bathroom, and play acting, when he made contact by accident. Sherif went on to jokingly describe the kick as a “c*** punt” before he and Molly-Mae returned to the communal bedroom as usual.
But he could never have predicted what was to come next with Sherif now telling The Sun exclusively from start to finish how he was brutally booted from the villa.
Sherif was axed after ‘kicking’ Molly-MaeCredit: Rex Features
They have never come face-to-face but Molly-Mae still follows Sherif onlineCredit: Getty
In his first interview in several years, Sherif tells us: “We laughed and joked about it.
“It wasn’t cynical or malicious. No one was hurt. We all went to bed.
“I was woken up separately from everyone else.
“I can’t tell you what time it was or how long before the normal waking up time it was.
“But yeah, I got woken up separate from everybody else and taken upstairs to the beach hut.”
Sherif continued: “There were two directors or executive producers, should I say, of the show.
“This is where it gets a little bit funny because, I feel as though ITV questioned me in a way where I had to sort of admit fault on paper for what I’d done.
“Rather than them sort of investigating the actual nature of what happened.
“So I got taken to the beach hut with two executive producers of the show questioning me about what happened the night prior before going to bed.
“Essentially they said, ‘do you feel like it is acceptable to be doing that on the show?’
“Bearing in mind, I had just been woken up by them – seconds before. I think this is a very key detail of it all.
“To be woken up in a setting like Love Island, randomly away from everybody else, you’re naturally going to be a little bit discombobulated.”
Sherif appeared on Love Island’s most popular seriesCredit: Rex Features
It was the iconic series where Molly-Mae met Tommy FuryCredit: ITV
Sherif says that all these factors played a part in how he eventually answered the KEY question from the show’s exec producers – which ultimately led to his removal.
The star, who was then aged 20, claims he was asked by bosses if he thought what had happened was “acceptable”.
Feeling in a haze of “semi-conciousness” from being woken up and taken to the beach hut, Sherif said: “I sort of answered ‘no’.”
He suggests that this ‘admittance’ was enough for bosses to tell him that his Love Island journey was over there and then.
Sherif tells us: “They took that opportunity to just say, ‘well, we’re going to have to remove you from the villa’.
“Long story short – I didn’t get to pack my stuff, I didn’t get to say goodbye to anybody.
“I literally left from the beach hut straight out the front door.
“They packed my stuff.
“I got taken to another location where I spent a night and then flew back the next morning with an executive producer and a chaperone.”
It meant that Sherif was never able to come face-to-face with Molly-Mae to speak to her about the incident.
But he maintains that he does not believe she issued a complaint about the scenario.
Sherif points out that he left the bathroom with her to go to bed and all the Islanders went to sleep.
Sherif would be keen to sign back up for All Stars despite his colourful past with ITVCredit: Instagram/@sheriflanre
Molly-Mae had no idea what happened to Sherif at the timeCredit: ITV
He says that there would have been no plausible opportunity for Molly-Mae to speak with production before he was awoken and pulled from the show.
Another key point for Sherif is that Molly-Mae has always followed him on social media since their series and still does to this day.
Whilst he has never been face-to-face with her, he is of the belief that she would have stopped engaging with him online if she was truly offended by what had happened.
He told us: “We have never stopped following each other.
“We have interacted with each other’s posts. There’s no beef between me and Molly-Mae. There never has been.
“In my logic, I genuinely believe she never complained or asked for me to come off of the show.”
Following his early exit, Sherif reveals that ITV provided him with security for a week as well as therapy sessions as a result of the intense nature surrounding his exit.
Sherif told us: “On paper a decent amount of support. Let me put it like that.
“There was a therapist and there was security for about a week.
“But that was about it if I’m not mistaken.”
Despite this, Sherif says he is very much open to speaking with ITV seven years down the line and has told The Sun he would happily sign up to All Stars next year and has encouraged ITV execs to reach out.
He said: “In my head, I think it would make sense almost for both parties. I’m not sure of the politics of it all or how they feel about me per se.
“I think in my head, it would make sense for them to reach out to me.
“I think it would be a clever move as it would get people talking.
“For me personally, it is water under the bridge.
“However, I wouldn’t need a direct addressing of the situation from ITV to go back on.”
The Sun has reached out to ITV.
