Watching your son or daughter competing on a show designed to test their emotions and their relationships – while not always portraying their best qualities – can be tough.
Current Love Island contestant Chloe Burrows’ shocked family have asked viewers to be kinder to Chloe, writing on her Instagram account, “The amount of trolling Chloe has been receiving is disgusting. This morning we woke up to yet another DM encouraging Chloe to kill herself.”
For these three mums, seeing their kids on TV may have been a dream come true, but it was also an emotional roller coaster…
‘My jaw was on the floor the night that Rosie got intimate’
Sharon Williams, 51, from Rhondda, is the mum of Rosie Williams, who spent two weeks on the show in series four
I watched every episode, sitting on the floor, as close as possible to the TV. Rosie and I usually talk every day, so I needed those updates. But Rosie’s dad, Steve, went to bed and scrolled through Twitter, asking, “What’s she done?” whenever she trended.
I even got to watch her meet her future husband. Initially, Essex carpenter Nathan didn’t seem like her type, but he made her laugh with his cheeky nature. Admittedly, I didn’t think it would last long when they left the show, but they’ve proved me wrong. They’re married with two gorgeous children, three-year-old Freddie and baby Delilah.
When the scenes were shown of Cara having sex on TV that’s when I’d get up and make myself tea. It didn’t really bother me – I was proud how she was coming across.
Nathan’s parents threw a party for the finale and all his friends were there, including Tommy Mallet from The Only Way Is Essex. It was funny to meet all these people because of my daughter. Watching Cara win was amazing. I was jumping up and down. It meant so much to me that the UK had taken my beloved daughter into their hearts.