25 September 2023 , 22:47
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Love Island finalist Zachariah Noble denied the claims he was the person being "homophobic" at a recent celebrity event.
Zach - who came fourth in the show with Molly Marsh - and Mitch Taylor were allegedly thrown out of a celebrity event last week for their behaviour at the re-opening of Space NK's Duke Of York store in London. In a TikTok video, influencer Ashleigh Huish claimed she saw two male Love Islanders walk into the room saying they were the most famous people there.
It was also claimed that one particular Islander 'threw' money at a homeless man who asked for cash. According to the influencer, "They proceeded to be incredibly homophobic and that is where Space NK was told and they made them leave immediately because they do not tolerate homophobia or any kind of disgusting behaviour really."
Since then, Mitch released a statement clarifying what happened at the event and told fans Zach had nothing to do with the accusations but was "dragged straight into them." And now, Zach posted a statement on his Instagram Stories explaining his side of the story.
Zachariah released a statement following accusations of 'homophobia' (Nils Jorgensen/REX/Shutterstock)
He denied the claims and explained his side of the story (Instagram/zachariah_noble97)"Hey guys, what a long week it's been. I'm embarrassed to have to address this and never imagined I'd be here writing this," he wrote over a black background. "Over the past few days, I've received a number of hateful messages regarding accusations from last week that are currently circulating the internet.
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"So I would like to address this from my side and give clarity that the narrative circulating about me is 100 per cent untrue. Never in my life have I been homophobic and any insinuation of this is extremely wrong & hurtful. I am truly saddened to hear that someone was upset that evening but this had nothing to do with me. I wasn't even present at the time of this incident/misunderstanding."
He continued: "We live in a society where everyone wants to consider mental health and look out for one another, yet there are still some people online who have clearly forgotten how impactful their words can be and just jump on bandwagons. Everyone is so quick to judge and believe anything they hear and read. Even if it's untrue. We really need to realise how powerful words can be and find out the real facts before coming at people, especially people with high platforms as it's these people who have pushed this false narrative onto my name. And influence the way people think."
"This is all I have to say on the matter and I hope it brings you lot closure."
Sources also claimed to MailOnline that Mitch was dropped by his management following the accusations: "He's [Taylor] put up a video because he's had a lot of flak this week. His management have parted ways with him. He's only been out of the villa two months and they can't put up with it."