Tink Reading has responded to the backlash she’s received following Leah Taylor and Montel McKenzie’s split.
The 26-year-old was dumped from the Love Island villa alongside five other Islanders last month, after she wasn’t chosen during the recoupling.
The Birmingham native had been getting to know Montel, and they even shared a kiss – so, she wasn’t too impressed when he chose to remain loyal to Leah Taylor.
After respectively being dumped, both Montel and Tink insisted there was no bad blood between them.
Just days after leaving the villa, Montel and Leah split, with Leah cryptically stating she’s looking for someone who “shares the same values and morals” as her.
Montel was later forced to deny rumours he had “cheated” on Leah, when a photo surfaced of some of the Islanders enjoying a night out, with Tink standing directly in front of him in a group shot.
Taking to TikTok earlier this week, Tink said: “Hi guys, so I have been debating whether to even make this video or whether it be best just to stay quiet, but I do think since a certain video has come out and the hate and the death threats I’ve been receiving for actually no reason cause I haven’t done anything wrong, it’s only fair that I get to voice my side of events and just clear up a few things.”
“The messages I’ve been receiving that I’m the reason that Montel and Leah have split up and just the backlash of that – I just wanna clear this whole thing up,” Tink continued.
“So a few weeks ago, a lot of us Islanders and past Islanders from other series went to an event – it was actually Dami [Hope]’s event – and obviously all the Islanders from my season, we were all together.”
“Nothing happened at this event, literally all harmless. We were all just having a good time and it was good vibes.”
“Yeah, we did have videos together, pictures together, but these were group pictures, group videos and the next day or a couple of days later I did post on my Instagram of the event, and one of the pictures is me and Gabby [Jeffery] and a few of the boys, and Montel’s in that picture.”
“It just so happens that that picture I am stood in front of him,” Tink explained. “It wasn’t planned, I didn’t make myself stand there or anything like that. I didn’t post it for any other reason than we were all – in my eyes – we were all friends, we’d brushed everything under the carpet and moved on from that. So why can’t I post a picture in a group setting with my friends?”
“As I was saying, I didn’t plan to stand there, it just so happened that that’s how it fell. You know, me and Gabby could have been in opposite positions in that picture and nothing would be said, but it’s just because it’s me that it has been blown out of proportion.”
“I posted that picture because, again, I wasn’t trying to cause anything between Leah and Montel, it was because I genuinely thought we had all moved on from that situation and I didn’t think that it would be taken the way that it has.”
“If I did think that then of course I wouldn’t have posted it. I can confirm nothing happened that night, Montel is not a cheater. Nothing happened between us, we were only together in group situations.”
“Videos going up – we can’t help if we stood next to each other. We’re not doing anything with each other, we’re just in a group setting,” Tink said.
“So I do feel him getting called a cheater, that’s really unfair on his behalf as well, but this isn’t to talk about him.”
“This is more just to talk about the fact, the hate that I’ve been getting is so unkind and unnecessary for the fact that I posted a picture with my fellow Islanders at an event.”
“If we could just please, please just think about what we’re saying first, and obviously there is two sides to every story. I did just wanna clear up that nothing’s happened since the villa with me and Montel. I posted a picture, and if for whatever reason him and Leah haven’t worked out, I don’t want that to be anything to do with me.”
@tinkreadingxo My side of the story #fyp #LoveIsland ♬ original sound – Tink🧚🏽
