Love Island UK stars react to George leaving villa as he opens up about abrupt exit

The cast of Love Island UK have reacted to athlete George Knight’s sudden departure from the villa, with one heartbroken contestant claiming they couldn’t ‘believe’ he was actually gone.

Series 13 of the beloved ITV2 dating show is well underway, with Ellie Chadwick’s handbags and Mica Harris’ genius indoor sunglasses ‘hack’ already making headlines.

The duo have been joined in Mallorca by the likes of Sam Workman, an electrician hailing from the West Midlands, and George Knight, footballer who shockingly bowed out of the programme after creating a stir between Robyn Langton and Mica.

After entering as a bombshell with Yasmin Pettet on Day 1, the sportsman was tasked with getting to know the Islanders before dumping two of them.

Eventually, that was also a twist, as the Islanders found out they would not be dumped and would instead have the opportunity to stay in the villa.

Despite being paired with Mica, the Winchester native kissed Robyn, causing a rift.

Just before his exit, he apologised to the Barbados-born student for his behaviour.

George then quit Love Island S13, causing a stir on social media. He later put rumours to bed by informing his Instagram followers that he needed to be with his family.

“Family comes first, always,” the 28-year-old wrote.

“Leaving the @loveisland Villa was a decision made in order to be with my family. Out of respect for them, I’d prefer not to go into any further detail.

“Thank you to everyone who has reached out with kind messages and support! It genuinely means a lot.”

Lorenzo Alessi, a business owner from Hertfordshire, was the one who broke the news that George would not continue on the show.

“George has left the villa for private reasons and won’t be coming back,” he said.

After hearing the news, the Islanders elected to give the reality TV star a round of applause.

Robyn could be heard saying: “Aww, George, we love you!”

The quantity surveyor headed into the confessional room to give viewers the lowdown on her actual feelings about her potential love interest leaving.

“I can’t believe it, I actually can’t believe it. He was the only person I was actually kind of interested in,” she said.

Robyn’s mum, Stacey Langton, has opened up about her daughter’s path to Love Island stardom, revealing she had ‘second thoughts’ before eventually taking the plunge.

After applying in March and undergoing various interviews, the Liverpudlian received the news that she’d been selected as an original cast member while she was in the car with her mum.

“She started to have second thoughts because she had a little think about people's perceptions of when you've been on a reality TV show and what people think of you,” Stacey told the BBC.

"That was for maybe a couple of hours until she realised that actually it doesn't really matter as long as she's got the approval of her friends and family. She was all in then.”

The proud mum added that she’d received ‘so many messages from parents and from young girls’ claiming she was a ‘breath of fresh air’ because she had decided to forgo fake tan and a full face of make-up.

"Our Robyn's just not that bothered,” she added.

Tune into Love Island series 13 tonight on ITV2 and ITVX at 9pm.