I grilled Love Island ‘mean girl’ Lola, here’s why it left me shaken – and the key Julia scene that was never aired

THE PLAYER, the Queen Bee, the lad with nine lives – the Love Island villa has its cast of characters, just like any reality TV show. But even prior warning they could be a victim of “the edit” still isn’t enough to prepare a young Islander for becoming the series’ ‘mean girl’. Gorgeous Lola Deal emerged from the ITV dating show to that unenviable title and, days later, sat down with me for her first interview and the experience left me feeling distinctly shaken – and here’s why. Lola Deal reflected on her difficult return to the outside world after leaving the Love Island villa in an exclusive interview with The Sun’s Felicity Cross Credit: The Sun Lola and Sean became exclusive before Casa Amor sparked the row that turned viewers against them Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Last Tuesday Lola was a guest on The Sun’s Showbiz Fix alongside villa beau Sean Fitzgerald, where I quizzed her about the events that led to her being branded a bully by fans. I saw her again on Friday at a launch event, and it only compounded what I thought about Lola – but it’s probably not what you think. When Lola clashed with Casa Amor bombshell Julia Majchrzak in the famous Mallorca villa, I agreed with fans that her tone felt passive aggressive, notably deploying “angel” in every other sentence. Before Casa, all was blissful between Lola and Sean and they had publicly declared their love for each other and become “exclusive”. But on return, Julia argued that Sean had been flirtatious, broken boundaries and didn’t act in a way befitting for a man proclaiming to be in love. Lola erupted, and rather than grill her man, she hit back that Julia shouldn’t have been trying to tempt a taken man anyway. At the time, I didn’t like it. All too often girls blame the other woman instead of the man and – on my TV screen – that’s what looked to be happening here. Fans largely sided with Julia and it landed Lola and Sean at the bottom of the ranking in fan votes and left Lola as public enemy number one. So interviewing Lola last week, it was one topic I was keen to hear her out on. She told me: “It’s been intense. I feel like I’m still out of it. “I haven’t gone on my socials yet for obvious reasons… I’ve been getting so much hate.” Lola told me that the episodes had not shown Julia continuing to pick at Lola after it had been squashed. I’m usually cynical when Islanders blame the edit because the behaviour has to exist in the first place, right? But sitting and listening to Lola, the one thing I feel is overwhelming concern. She’s not crying, or wringing her hands, or stammering, but her guard is up. I was her first press interview since leaving the villa and she already seemed defeated, accepting that she’d have to repeat this same defence in endless more chats. Her man, Fitzy, is full of laughs but even the most amateur psychologist could tell you he was playing the joker to try and prop up Lola. Sitting across from her – tiny, in just a white vest and a pair of shorts – it was easy to forget she is 28 years old. Fast forward to last Friday, Lola is at ITV HQ in West London along with a group of other Islanders for the launch of the channel’s new reality offerings. This time she’s in a pearl-encrusted two piece but she’d still not found her glow. Whilst other dumped cast members like Ope and Mara are full of laughs and enthusiasm, Lola barely spoke. I think back to our interview, when one comment she made felt particularly telling – and perhaps is a far more accurate measure of who Lola Deal really is than that Casa Amor conversation. The branded ‘mean girl’ insisted she never wanted fellow Islander Julia to receive online hate despite their villa clash Credit: The Sun After returning to social media, Lola thanked fans who had supported her through the backlash Credit: Smart Pictures uk Talking about fans taking sides, Lola said: “I do not want Julia to get hate at all. That’s s***. “Like I would hate for anyone to be in the position I’m in. “There’d been days where like I’d be hugging her, we’d be talking normally, and like when [Julia’s Casa pal] Charleen left, I was like consoling her. “I do not want her getting any sort of hatred. It’s horrible. “I don’t want people to hate on ME. But I don’t want anyone hating on her. I don’t want the opposite of not hating on me, to be hating on her. “I just want it to be squashed.” Another Islander who has been flung into girl no girl warfare is Charleen Murphy. In a similar way, fans have sided with either her or Jasmine Muller – all because they both became entangled with the same boy, Kavan Murphy. Lola and Julia clashed in the villa Credit: ITV The row was triggered by Julia’s comments over Sean’s behaviour Credit: ITV Charleen is also experiencing intense hate online, with viewers mocking her “victim press tour” as she dares to merely answer the questions being put to her about her experience… how dare she! The Irish influencer was also present at the ITV launch, but in the same way seemed defeated. Over the weekend, Lola finally logged on to her social media accounts and shared a smiling snap with Fitzy. She wrote: “The biggest thank you to all of you who have been so supportive, sending gorgeous messages and taking the time to approach us, it really means the world to me and doesn’t go unnoticed.” Here’s hoping ALL of Love Island’s women can find a pocket of the passionate fandom who back them – because the lord knows the trials and tribulations of the villa is enough without them facing a whole new battle on the outside.