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‘Being black and in the media is harder’: Yewande Biala opens up

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Love Island's Yewande Biala has opened up about what life is like when you're black and in the media.

The 23-year-old Irish scientist says being black means "you have to be 10 times better than everyone else", she told 1Xtra Talks.

Yewande was one of the 2019 cast originals, but left the show after Danny chose Arabella over her in a brutal dumping.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Yewande (@yewande_biala) on

She says: "When I got into this I realised being black is hard, but being black and in the media is harder.

"You have to stand out and you have to do more and it can get quite frustrating," she adds.

"You feel like you're not doing enough, but just keep pushing to keep doing what you're doing and someone will see how amazing you are."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by  (@yewande_biala) on

The reality star also claims that finding love in the villa was harder because of the colour of her skin.

Yewande's best friends were candidates Amber Gill, who is mixed race and Anna Vakili, who's Iranian, and she says "we all struggled".

"We didn't find anyone who liked us. It was always someone coming in and saying 'my type is blonde and petite'. We'd just look at each other and say 'they're obviously not here for us'."

Yewande also spoke about the pressure of social media outside of the villa, and how she copes with it.

She says "the majority of people were super supportive" in public platform comments, but that she did receive some hurtful direct messages.

"When I came back from Mallorca I got such a tan. I was so dark but I loved it.

"And people would come to me like, 'Oh you're too dark, like why are you so dark? Why are you so black, you're too skinny'. It was just stupid."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Yewande (@yewande_biala) on

Yewande was also quizzed on her feelings about Danny Williams and Arabella Chi.

Model Arabella Chi is now dating Wes Nelson from the 2018 series, while Danny is dating Jourdan Riane after falling for her during the Casa Amor segment only days after Arabella was dumped.

The scientist says numerous articles appeared online about her which portrayed a tired stereotype used against black women following her dumping.

"I tried not to read any articles about myself because I didn't want to get upset. I think they were trying to label me as the angry black woman, which was kind of insane.

"Not once in the villa did I ever raise my voice or feel like I acted in that way, even considering the circumstances I was in."

Feature image: Instagram/@yewande_biala

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