Love Island‘s Marcel Somerville has criticised new islander Anton Danyluk after a photo of him in blackface emerged.
The image depicts the contestant dressed up as The A Team‘s Mr T during a friend’s Halloween party in 2014. Anton is wearing blue dungarees, a large gold chain, and has very dark makeup on his face and hands.
The photo was shared originally on Facebook and has since been posted on Twitter and Instagram by fans who believe that the 24-year-old should not be permitted to continue with the show.
Marcel expressed his disgust at the photo this weekend, stating that there should be “repercussions.”
“Blackface was a form of entertainment that comedians and actors used to do,” he told The Sun. “But we all know it’s just not funny and simply not acceptable any more.”
“In my opinion it hasn’t been acceptable for decades, so to hear that someone still thinks it’s OK to make fun of people’s skin colour is absolutely ridiculous.
“It’s racist, and for him to stay on the show now with no repercussions is not OK.”
Marcel went on to say that he thinks the Love Island producers should show the other contestants the photo, “then we can see if he still finds it funny.”
“It doesn’t matter if you are dressing up as Mr T ‘for a laugh’ or pretending to be Al Jolson, there’s never an excuse for it,” he went on. “I find blackface extremely offensive and there’s no place for it in any situation.”
“The Love Island bosses vet all contestants, but they must have missed this picture in his social media feed or they probably wouldn’t have let him on the show.”
Anton’s mother Sherie Ann, who is from Myanmar, has defended her son, saying that there was “no racist intent” and that he would not behave that way today.
“As his mother I know he would be mortified to be labelled in such a way, and would whole heartedly apologise to anyone offended by this picture,” she said.
“There was absolutely no racist intent and almost six years down the line, I know it’s not the way Anton would ever behave today.”
Love Island kicks off on Monday night on Virgin Media Two.
