He’s been accused of psychological manipulation and 'gaslighting', but dumped Love Island 2018 contestant Rosie Williams says Adam didn’t abuse her.

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“I wouldn't label Adam as emotionally abusive,” the fifth Islander to leave the villa told RadioTimes.com and other press.

“Yes, he handled the situation in the complete wrong way, but I think people forget he is only 22. He does have a lot of growing up to do. I don't think he's had many relationships in his life and [he] doesn't really know how to do them," she said after leaving the ITV2 show.

She added: “I thought I was strong enough to deal with it and I don't feel like I've been abused in any way.”

Rosie, who was dumped after no boy picked her out at the recent recoupling, also said she wouldn’t mind meeting Adam in the outside world: “Hopefully when he comes out everything can be civil and we can actually go out together with the rest of the people in the villa without it being awkward.”

The pair may have ended on an amicable note, with Adam apologising to Rosie on the morning of the recoupling, but the 26-year-old solicitor admitted she hopes his time on the show soon comes to an end.

“I don't think it's fair that I was actually in there to find love and he's in there on his fourth girl in two weeks,” she said. "He clearly isn't in there to find love.”

Rosie also said her relationship with Adam was closer than the show may have portrayed: “Obviously people only see an hour a day and we're together 24 hours a day in that villa,” she said. “We were talking about having a relationship on the outside, talking about meeting each other's parents.”

Then there’s the matter of Kendall. Some Love Island viewers argued that since Rosie stole Adam from Kendall, it’s hypocritical for her to be upset when Adam's head turned to Zara. But Rosie said her situation with Adam was completely different:

“When I first came in the villa and he was with Kendall, Adam handled it completely differently,” she explained. “We were both very stressed about hurting Kendall’s feelings and I know Adam had a chat with Kendall before he pursued anything with me.

“But I haven't had the same respect. I haven't been treated in the same way – I'm still waiting for that chat about Zara. He should have had that chat with me and it all would have been fine.”

Of course, Adam didn’t have that conversation with Zara on the show, leading to a very awkward few days in the villa. And the situation was even more frosty than seen on screen, according to Rosie.

“[Zara] gave me a stinking look one night when we passed each other going to the toilet. But a lot of this doesn't get seen [in the show],” she said. “I think they [Ellie and Zara] played the victim a bit when they came in to get sympathy from the boys."

However, despite the fallout from the breakup with Adam, Rosie says she has no regrets about her time in the villa: “I couldn't have really done anything else. I wanted to go in there to find somebody I had an emotional and sexual attraction.

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“With Adam the physical attraction was there, but if I could have my time again I would ask them to send in an Adam with a personality."


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Authors

Thomas LingDigital editor, BBC Science Focus

Thomas is Digital editor at BBC Science Focus. Writing about everything from cosmology to anthropology, he specialises in the latest psychology, health and neuroscience discoveries. Thomas has a Masters degree (distinction) in Magazine Journalism from the University of Sheffield and has written for Men’s Health, Vice and Radio Times. He has been shortlisted as the New Digital Talent of the Year at the national magazine Professional Publishers Association (PPA) awards. Also working in academia, Thomas has lectured on the topic of journalism to undergraduate and postgraduate students at The University of Sheffield.

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