Jake Cornish’s father has slammed claims he isn’t being “genuine” on Love Island.
The 24-year-old has come under fire in recent weeks, as viewers and his fellow Islanders have questioned his motives on the show.
Over the weekend, Jake finally told his girlfriend Liberty Poole that he loved her, but his statement wasn’t well received in the villa.
Viewers suggested he dropped the L-bomb as a “get-out-of-jail-free card”, and some of the girls in the villa weren’t convinced either – particularly Faye and Chloe.
Jake’s dad, Mark Cornish, has since defended his son’s actions – and insisted he’s a “nice lad”.
Speaking to Bristol Live, he said: “What you see on telly is Jake. There is no motive.”
“He is genuine but he speaks before he thinks, so when you see him on the telly saying things, it’s because it’s coming from his heart and he’s just a nice lad.”
Mark also said Jake “obviously loves” Liberty, because he “wouldn’t have waited so long to tell her otherwise.”
Responding to the girls’ negative reaction to Jake dropping the L-bomb, he continued: “I don’t know whether some of it is being staged or not because when Liberty came back onto the sofa, not one of the girls reassured her that he may have said what he said because he actually loves her. They may have been told to react like that.”
“Hopefully we have turned a corner after the weekend and the public will start thinking that the others are in it to win it too,” he said.
“Jake and Liberty have been strong from Day One and I think the others felt it was a good idea to get rid of them, so they had a better chance at winning the show.”
Mark said it’s been tough to see the “vile comments” about his son on social media.
“It’s quite an emotional thing to see your son struggling. The worst thing about it for us is seeing the vile comments – mainly from keyboard warriors that don’t understand Jake,” he confessed.
“They just see him on the telly and think that he’s in it for the money or he’s a bit of a, you know, bit of a snake and you know, I’m not being horrible to Jake but he’s not intelligent enough to have a game plan!”
“It’s quite hard to stomach the comments that people write, it’s not nice when he hasn’t done anything wrong and it’s just the way he has been made to look.”
Mark added: “Mentally-wise, I don’t know what he’s going to be like when he comes out and I just want people to send out positive vibes for him.”
“For us, it has just been uncomfortable to watch these last few episodes but hopefully we can move on and we have got through the worst part of it.”
“As a West Country lad and there’s no hidden agenda with him – he just says it how it is. At the end of the day, we are really proud of him and we are looking forward to meeting Liberty when they get out.”
“He’s just gone in there to have a great time and a wonderful experience but he’s being portrayed as a villain, which is hurtful because that’s not Jake at all.”
