Love Island star Ollie quits after thousands sign petition over ‘trophy hunting’ claims

Petition describes the 23-year-old as ‘bloodthirsty'

(ITV)

Love Island star Ollie Williams has quit the show after just three days.

The reason for the 23-year-old’s departure has not been specified by the ITV2 programme, but a spokesperson confirmed to The Independent that he would be vacating the villa.

Williams offered his own reasons, saying: “I have to be honest with myself, and everyone, that I do still love someone else… I have to follow my heart in this scenario and it would be wrong for me to ignore these feelings.

“At the end of the day, this is Love Island and it’s about finding love. If I carried on anything with Paige, or any other girl that might come into the villa, it wouldn’t be fair on them.”

But his departure coincides with a petition, which has been signed by more than 35,000 people, calling for him to be removed for allegedly posing with animals killed for ‘trophy hunting’.​

Photographs obtained by The Sun appear to show Williams posing with warthogs, water buffalo and a giant eland on social media.​

The pictures were reportedly posted on William’s Instagram account, but were deleted prior to his appearance on the show being announced.

Killing animals for sport or pleasure and subsequently boasting about it, usually on social media, is known as trophy hunting, and animal rights groups have long campaigned to ban it.

Neither Williams nor ITV2 have commented on the claims or confirmed that it is indeed Williams in the photographs.​

Ofcom also announced on Tuesday that more than 200 people have complained about Williams reported links to trophy hunting since the show launched on Sunday.

The petition, hosted on Change.org, criticises ITV for “allowing” Williams to be on the show and accuses him of posting the photographs on social media to promote his hunting business, Cornish Sporting Agency.

Cornish Sporting Agency is listed on Companies House as a “hunting, trapping and related service activities” business and its registered address is the Lanhydrock estate in Cornwall, which Williams has previously said he stands to inherit from his father.

Williams is the oldest son of Viscount Clifden, the Lord of the Manor at Lanhydrock Estate.

The petition continues: “Ollie Williams should not be allowed to take part or compete in the Love Island series and he should not be allowed on a such a public platform.”

According to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, 290,000 trophy items from nearly 300 endangered species were exported across the world between 2008 and 2017.

The giant eland, which is a type of antelope, is classified as a “vulnerable” species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Williams has not spoken about running a hunting business on Love Island and described himself as a “landowner” and the heir.

In a pre-show interview, Williams was asked what his best chat up line is. He replied: “Best chat up line I’ve ever used is, ‘Do you know Polzeath beach in Cornwall? I own it.’ That’s it. Chat up line, done.”

ITV did not offer a comment on the petition when approached by The Independent.