Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@gemOwen
Topics: Love Island
Joe Harker
ITV has announced that the daughter of famous footballer Michael Owen is going on Love Island as part of the cast of the incredibly popular show's eighth series.
Gemma Owen, 19, an international dressage rider and business owner, received her dad's blessing to appear on the show, the Sun reports.
Her dad dazzled football fans with his goals for club and country and is still on our screens as a pundit and that one advert where he pretends to be flying a helicopter over Dubai.
Now Gemma will be staking her own claim to fame on Love Island and she says she's a 'very competitive' person just like her dad.
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That comes as no surprise as she's competed in dressage for Great Britain since she was 11 years old and says she's someone who will 'always go' for what she wants.
Gemma, who describes herself as 'fun, flirty and fiery', says she's going on Love Island as she's 'open to finding love' and 'wanting to have a really fun summer'.
She said: "I was seeing someone and then that didn’t work out so I thought, 'Why not?'
"I think I’m good at giving advice, I’m a good person to talk to, I’m very honest. If I want the same guy, I’d do it but in a nice respectful way.
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"I will always go for what I want. But at the same time, I’m not going to mess up something for someone who is in a proper relationship or get in the way of a couple if they have a genuine connection. I wouldn’t do anything to another girl that I wouldn’t be happy with them doing to me."
Gemma will be joining already announced Love Island cast members paramedic Paige Thorne, microbiologist Dami Hope, hotel waitress Indiyah Polack, masters student Liam Llewellyn, model and dancer Tasha Ghouri who will be the show's first ever deaf contestant, business owner Davide Sanclimenti and pharmaceutical sales worker Ikenna Ekwonna.
Last year's Love Island was won by couple Millie Court and Liam Reardon, who pipped runners up Chloe Burrows and Toby Aromolaran to the top spot.
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Laura Whitmore will be back to present the show, while husband Iain Stirling will be providing the voiceover.
The new series will be taking place in a brand new villa in Mallorca featuring six bedrooms, a 20m swimming pool and the famous Love Island fire pit.
The eighth series of Love Island starts at 9pm Monday 6 June on ITV2 and ITV Hub. Episodes are available the following morning on BritBox