Love Island’s Dejon hits back at ‘narcissist’ claims after relative brands him ‘manipulative’

Love Island’s Dejon has hit back at claims he’s a ‘narcissist’ following a wave of criticism he received after being booted off the ITV2 dating show.

Fans of the reality series slammed the personal trainer, 26, for his questionable behaviour in the villa and flooded his social media account with “hateful messages”.

Even one of his family members lashed out at the original Islander on TikTok, posting an explosive video of herself slating the star as she branded him “manipulative”.

In his first interview since processing the backlash that came from his actions, Dejon, who is now in a relationship with girlfriend Meg, 25, responded to the judgements about his personality.

He told the Daily Mail: “I was away for altogether 10 weeks from the beginning to basically the end. I was in a bubble with no phone and not knowing what was happening on the outside world.

“The first thing that I did when I got my phone back was speak to my friends and family, but my phone was flooded with backlash and hateful messages.

“It got so bad that me and Meg have both decided to turn the comments off, the messages we have both received are no good for our mental health.

“Everyone is coming for me online. I’ve had everything, death threats, racist comments, hateful comments, I’ve had everything you could think of.”

ITV viewers slammed Dejon’s attitude during the show and questioned his motives around partner Meg, with many accusing him of ‘playing a game’.

The pair coupled up at the very start of the show and left Mallorca hand-in-hand as boyfriend and girlfriend after declaring their love for each other.

But it wasn’t always smooth sailing for the duo as many fans thought his behaviour was “narcissistic”, not only with Meg, but with bombshells Malisha, Yasmin and Billykiss too.

Addressing the negative opinions he read on social media, he slammed people’s views of him but admitted he could have handled things better.

Dejon said: “I do take full accountability for how I communicated at times in the villa.

“The girls who were on the show with me say I’m not a narcissist, I’m not a gaslighter, all of these things they have seen online, it means a lot to me because they spent 24 hours a day with me.

“I could have handled situations better but when it comes to being a ‘narcissist’ and these words, empathy is definitely something that I have, it’s something I had for Meg, for Harry, and when Meg was upset, I was there for her, and when Harry was upset it would break my heart.

“Me and Harry had a thing, we called it fitness and feelings where we would go to the gym and I would say, ‘don’t worry H, we can be free here, our tears, people will think they’re sweat’.

In the days that followed his exit from series 12, won by US Islander Toni and her partner Cach, he admitted to finding filming incredibly tough at times.

He continued: “As the show went on, I felt very lost. I felt very confused. I wanted to go home, really and truly, many times especially when me and Meg were really good and I knew she was for me and I was 100 per cent sure that we would work on the outside world, I wanted to go home.

“The viewers will have seen me joking around but they won’t have seen that I have feelings, I have a lot of feelings, but it’s hard for me to show them.

“I usually deal with my feelings alone and I would cry alone in my room or by myself but when you’re on TV and you’re feeling upset and you know the whole nation is watching you but not only that, I’m living with people and there was no place to be by yourself and let things out.

“Harry really helped me with that, Meg, and Helena, she was going through her struggles, and that broke my heart, I had a lot of empathy, and I definitely feel I am a very empathetic person; I can definitely feel other people’s pain.”

Speaking of his blossoming love story with Meg and his regrets in the lead up to becoming official, Dejon explained his reasons for exploring romantic connections with other women.

He admitted: “Yes, I do regret flirting. The show portrayed me flirting a lot, which I held my hands up to, but the show is edited to make entertainment for the viewers.

“The one thing I can definitely say is I did resolve every issue I’ve ever had, and I have no bad blood with any of the Islanders. When I was exploring connections, me and Meg always communicated.

“I thought on Love Island you needed to find who you have the strongest connections with.

“In the process of doing that I hurt people’s feelings, and I didn’t intend on doing that. It was hard trying to navigate getting to know different people in the same place, I have never experienced it before.

“I know I made a lot of mistakes and really and truly I am glad my connection with Meg was so strong that even my regrettable flirting with other girls while we were single and open, she still stood by me.

“But since we have been boyfriend and girlfriend it’s only been her and it will only be her.”