’s Holly Hagan has weighed in on bosses’ controversial decision to cast 19-year-old Amber Wise.
ITV2 viewers have been in uproar since the Dennis Wise’s arrival in , after raising concerns about her youth.
Amber is the youngest singleton to step foot in the Majorcan villa this season and fans were when she kissed Tyrique Hyde, 26, due to their age gap.
Having joined MTV’s Geordie Shore aged just 18, Holly, now 30, said she related to Amber’s experience, but added she strongly believed reality TV contestants should have higher upper age limits.
While she praised the reality show for giving her a ‘platform’ and ‘opportunities’, she expressed regret about being broadcast ‘paralytic drunk’ as a teenager.
‘If you watched season one of Geordie Shore you’ll know it was absolutely hell on earth for me and it still to this day upsets me,’ she added.
Addressing Amber’s age, and her romantic encounters with older islanders, Holly said: ‘To have a 19-year-old potentially sharing a bed with like 27-year-olds, I don’t think that that is right.’
Drawing on her own experience on Geordie Shore, in which she shared her disbelief ‘nobody stepped in’ after scenes aired of her ‘blackout drunk’ as an 18-year-old, she said she believed TV stars should be aged at least 24.
Holly continued: ‘I do think that 25 should be a minimum requirement because your brain isn’t actually developed until 25.
‘But then again I’m not sure how good a TV show that would be with mature, mentally developed people.’
Amber is not the only 19-year-old nor the youngest ever Islander to appear on the ITV2 juggernaut series.
Last year, fellow footballer’s daughter Gemma Owen, the offspring of Michael Owen, was also 19 when she jetted to Mallorca.
The youngest-ever contestant, however, was Amelia Peters, a teaching assistant, who was 18 when she was on the line-up for Love Island season three.
Metro.co.uk has previously contacted ITV for comment.
Love Island continues tonight on ITV2 from 9pm.
