GEMMA Owen's dad Michael broke his silence on her entry into the Love Island villa last night.
The retired footballer, who is now a TV pundit, joked he'd fled the country to get away from watching his 19-year-old daughter on the ITV dating show.
The striker, who was in Munich to cover England's Nations League clash against Germany, said: "I came all the way to Germany to try and avoid all that back home, but it has been brought up straight away!
“But I am feeling alright. This is taking my mind off it so don’t bring it back up.”
It came after host Jules Breach said at the beginning of Channel 4's football coverage: “Joining me hoping to see another famous win for England tonight in Munich, England and Arsenal midfield Jordan Nobbs, former England, West Ham and Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole, and the father of Love Island’s Gemma Owen.”
There were laughs in the studio, and she then asked Owen: “A big night for the Owens last night Michael, how are you feeling?”
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Gemma has been the talk of the villa so far as the youngest contestant, and has already caught the eye of heartthrob Davide Sanclimenti.
Gemma, 19, was paired up with Welsh personal trainer Liam Llewellyn in the first episode when the public were allowed to play Cupid.
But tense scenes saw newcomer Davide, 27, pick one of the five girls he wanted to steal - putting one of the boys at risk.
It was dramatically revealed that Davide would have just 24 hours to figure out which of the girls he wanted to couple up with.
He got busy pulling each girl for separate chats throughout the day - with him spending time with Gemma twice.
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