Latest news with #TinaProvis
Daily Mail
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Love Island star Tina Provis slams Cierra Ortega's apology for use of anti-Asian slurs on Love Island USA as she reveals childhood pain
Tina Provis has slammed Love Island USA contestant Cierra Ortega's apology for repeatedly using an anti-Asian slur as she calls for people not to 'brush off' instances of 'casual racism'. The Love Island Australia winner, 29, penned a lengthy post to Instagram on Thursday after Cierra, 25, was booted from the Love Island USA villa due to mounting backlash over her use of the slur 'chink' in past social media posts. 'Love Island USA removed a contestant for a racist slur that resurfaced online. Let's talk about why this is important,' Tina began in her post. 'In my experience, Anti-Asian racism has always been quickly brushed off. 'The same people that want to fall back 'but I didn't know it was racist' are the SAME PEOPLE complaining when you make a stand up and point out why something is racist,' Tina said. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the Daily Mail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. On Wednesday, Cierra issued an 'accountability' video, in which she said she is 'truly deeply sorry' for using a racial slur and reiterated that she 'didn't fully understand' the meaning behind the offensive term. 'I do not, and have never, condoned racism or the repression of any cultural group in any form,' Cierra wrote. 'I would never intentionally use any word, especially a slur, to tear down anyone's culture or community. When I used that word, I didn't fully understand what it meant or how much pain it carries.' The backlash against her began earlier this month, when fans discovered two social media posts (from January 2015 and February 2023) in which Cierra had described her own smile as 'chinky' and said that she wanted Botox for her eyes. Tina, who won Love Island Australia in 2021 with her ex-partner Mitch Hibberd and has also starred on I'm A Celebrity! Get Me Outta Here, questioned how Cierra could not have known the meaning of the word. 'If you're calling out an ethnic groups features as undesirable, it is racist,' she wrote. 'If we continue to let comments slide because they 'aren't that racist' or 'they didn't meant to be racist', then we're excusing and encouraging a culture of casual racism.' The Chinese-Australian then revealed how 'insecure' anti-Asian slurs made her feel about her appearance whilst was growing up in Sydney. 'There was a time where my eyes were one of my biggest insecurities, because from an early age I faced casual racism,' Tina said. On Sunday night's episode which streamed on Peacock, narrator Iain Stirling confirmed that Love Island USA contestant Cierra Ortega (pictured) 'left the villa due to a personal situation' and had left Nic Vansteenberghe 'officially single' By the time she was 18-years-old, Tina turned to heavy makeup in attempts to alter her appearance because she'd so often hear friends say they 'looked Asian' if they didn't like a photo of themselves. 'If I was getting dressed up, I never would be seen without dark eyeshadow, attempting to 'hide' my eyelids and I would've screamed seeing a picture of myself like this without false lashes,' she said. Tina also recalled being teased in primary school, including one incident where a male classmate chased her around the playground whilst pulling back his eyelids. 'I've come a long way in becoming confident in my identity and that's why I have these conversations, I want other young people to feel the same,' Tina concluded in her post. However, Tina said she's not surprised by the sheer volume of people defending Cierra online. 'I'm not shocked to see that a lot of people online are defending her, because the slur that she used is "not as bad" as other racial slurs,' she said. 'There are hundreds of comments of people claiming that they didn't even know it was a derogatory comment, which just goes to show how anti-Asian racism is downplayed and tolerated much more than it would be in other communities.' Cierra is the second person to be removed from Love Island USA this season over past remarks, with Yulissa Escobar abruptly outsed for using the N-word in past social media posts.
Daily Mail
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Mystery surrounds AFL heartthrob Bailey Smith after he blocked several Love Island stars: 'I've never met him'
A Love Island star has revealed that AFL heartthrob Bailey Smith blocked her on social media, leading to a peculiar discovery regarding the sports star. Tina Provis, who featured on the third and fourth season of the Aussie dating show, took to TikTok last week to share her confusion over why the Geelong Cats midfielder spurned her. 'Why am I blocked by Bailey Smith?' the 29-year-old asked her fans. 'All I know is that I'm blocked on Instagram,' she said, explaining that she had tried to click on a video that included Bailey on the social media platform and she couldn't access it. She added: 'I've been blocked for years.' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Love Island star Tina Provis (right) has revealed that AFL heartthrob Bailey Smith (left) has blocked her on social media, leading to a peculiar discovery regarding the sports star However, what made the social media move even more confusing is that Tina wasn't the only reality star to receive the cold shoulder from the 24-year-old on Instagram. 'The last time I heard from some other people who have done Love Island, they're blocked as well,' she said. 'I don't know if he's still blocking the new seasons but I know at some point this man has looked me up and blocked me.' 'I've never met this man, I don't know this guy.' She finished off the clip: 'But I just wanna know. Bailey Smith, if you're out there. Why did you block me?' This isn't the first time a Love Island alum has taken to TikTok to share a similar revelation about Bailey Smith. Former Islander Andre Coutinho shared a clip on the platform in 2023 revealing that he too had discovered he had been blocked by the footy star. 'I found out months ago that Bailey Smith blocked me on Instagram,' he told the camera. Upon realising, he went to his other 2022 cast-mates, including Maddie Wilcox and Jordan Dowsett, both of whom confirmed that he had blocked them on Instagram too. 'He might've thought season 4 was trash,' Andre quipped about the odd discovery. Bailey recently revealed that he was dealing with an avalanche of stress that saw him spend six weeks getting professional help in a mental health facility. The sportsman has had a torrid 12 months as he battled through a serious knee injury. He also endured a relationship break-up and dealt with the fallout from his switch to Geelong after spending the first five years of his career with the Western Bulldogs. Smith confessed he turned to alcohol while he 'fell into a bad spiral' after doing his knee and breaking up with his girlfriend of two years, Gemma Dawkins, last August. His high-profile split with the Dogs added fuel to the fire as fans turned on him and drove a wedge between him and his old teammates while the injury made it impossible for him to use footy as a 'mask'. 'When you have to sit with yourself and be your own source of entertainment, fulfillment, stimulation, that's when I had to look inward and realise, "S**t, I am pretty f***ed up and I need to sort my s**t out,' he told the Real Stuff podcast. 'I got into some bad ways going flat-out after my knee [injury] and getting on the p**s and being an idiot, which we all do, but that's my coping mechanism. 'I really had to look inward ... that's when I found out that f***, there's nothing much to look inward here, other than a bit of a s**t storm.' Adding that he 'lost a lot of relationships' over his move to Geelong, the Cats star revealed he spent the six weeks at the facility seeing psychologists every day and meditating. 'There were multiple times where I thought [this is] rock bottom but then you find out rock bottom keeps going for a bit.'
