29 February 2024 , 12:19
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Georgia Harrison says she "almost felt left out" thanks to not taking part in the heart rate challenge on Love Island: All Stars.
The reality TV star, 29, explains how she initially wanted to skip the task that sees the boys and girls inside the villa dress up and dance to try and make each other's hearts beat faster due to so many people already seeing her "in a sexually vulnerable state without my permission".
However, Georgia - who finished the ITV2 series in fifth place with boyfriend Anton Danyluk - decided not to "let this thing that happened to me" completely hold her back and completed the challenge in her own way. The brave star wore a cute bunny costume as she entered the villa's firepit area but decided not to do a sexy dance. Instead, she sprinkled flower petals over the boys.
Georgia was praised by Love Island viewers for taking part in the challenge, despite being the victim of image-based sexual abuse. Disgraced reality TV star Stephen Bear was handed a 21-month sentence in March after being found guilty of sharing a sex tape with Georgia without her permission. On January 17, he was released from jail after serving half of his sentence. Georgia was in the South African Love Island villa the day her ex-boyfriend walked free.
The brave Love Island star during the ITV2 show's heart rate challenge (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Recalling taking the heart rate challenge to Olivia Attwood, Georgia says: "I think there were always going to be certain steps along this journey that were going to be harder for me to handle this time because of what I've been through. I feel like because so many people got to see me in a sexually vulnerable state without my permission, I just feel like they've seen enough of my sexual side.
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"And if I was to be that way, I know for a fact I would get judged for it, left, right and centre. Like, I get judged if I put up a picture in a bikini saying, you know, 'oh, she's happy to be seen like that, but she's not happy to be seen in this video'. And it's ridiculous but unfortunately, it’s my reality now and the show was so understanding and so aware of that. They were like, look, this is completely up to you and we are happy for you to handle this however you want to.
"All the girls were practicing their dancing - they didn't hold back - and I almost felt left out because I just thought, 'oh, why do I have to have things different?' And then in the end I thought I'm just going to do it. I'm going to do a sexy strut, in my own way, and then I'm just going to walk back inside because I'm not letting this thing that happened to me completely hold me back from other aspects of myself. I didn't dance on any of the guys and I didn't do what a lot of the other girls done, but I still managed to get involved in it and yeah, I think it was really important."
Olivia Attwood’s new podcast, So Wrong It’s Right, is available to listen on all podcast platforms.