My Mum, Your Dad’s Martin M has spoken about his upset after his antics on the show led to him being labelled a ‘bad father’ to son Luke.
The Ibiza-based property millionaire, 53, found himself in a love triangle on ITV dating show – which was billed as Love Island for single parents. But despite having both Tollulah and Monique vying for his affections, Martin ultimately left the retreat single.
His behaviour towards the other contestants on the show led to him being criticised by viewers – some of whom brandished him a ‘bad father and a bad role model to his sons’. Now, Martin, who appeared on the programme alongside 18 year old son Luke, has taken part in an Instagram live chat with Tollulah, 50, and her daughter Georgia-Blu, 28, to address some of the criticisms levelled at him.
Hhe said: “All the way through I was expecting the barrage of abuse and the backlash. I was expecting it.
“But the one thing that upset me more than anything was being called a bad father and a bad role model because I’ve always prided myself on being a good role model to my sons. And I think that was the hardest thing.”
Martin said that he treated the experience as a TV show, not real life, and he understood that his role in the programme was being brought in as a ‘bombshell’ to ‘mix it up a little bit’. But when it was announced that the children had been watching them in the retreat, he said he ‘immediately knew there was a problem’ and added he would have behaved in a more ‘guarded’ way had he known.
Discussing speaking to Luke after filming, he said: “The first thing he said to me – and Georgia you’ll probably understand this as well – was ‘dad, you don’t know how much I had to defend you’ and I think that really took me back. It was upsetting because I realised I’d put him in a bit of a position.”
Tollulah said she had decided to do the Instagram live chat because she had been inundated with questions from My Mum, Your Dad fans who had very strong opinions about how Martin had behaved on the show and she wanted to give the property tycoon ‘a voice’.
She also revealed that Martin had reached out in the group chat after the show was filmed to apologise for his behaviour on the show.
And on the live chat, Martin said to Tollulah: “Am I sorry that I upset you? Of course I am because you’re a great person and I would never want to upset you."
He added: “It was never my intention to upset you, I know I did and I can only apologise for that. You’re a great girl. But it happened and I have to own it.”
Later, he also said: “People are easily offended these days and it wasn’t my intention to do that, especially to the good people.”
Martin added the show had been edited so he and Tollulah were only ever shown in ‘serious mode’.
“They never showed us in playful mode,” he added.
Tollulah agreed, saying: “All the time we were having a laugh and we were very affectionate with each other. They didn’t show that.”
Martin went on to say that the producers of the show had ‘pulled the strings’ which meant he and Tollulah were not allowed to do their own thing. He also added that Luke was ‘enjoying his 15 minutes of fame’ following the show – being recognised by fans and posing for selfies – but did not watch it and no longer wanted to talk to his dad about it.
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