Love Island star forced to tell grandma she is not dead after cruel hoax
Shakira Khan, 22, spoke out after rumours that she was dead spread on social media - and she urged those sharing the false claims to back off instead of making people worried
Love Island star Shakira Khan said she has had to reassure her grandma she is alive after becoming the target of a cruel hoax online.
The 22-year-old TV personality addressed rumours that she was dead and said she was completely baffled. In a video on TikTok, Shakira asked: "Guys… why is everyone saying that I'm dead? Why is everyone saying that I'm dead, omg."
Then Shakira said in a more serious tone that her gran had become extremely worried after the rumours began spreading - and she had to reach out to reassure her that she is very much alive. She continued: "Nah it's actually not funny because my nan had sent me a video of somebody saying that I'm dead.
"Realistically though grandma, what am I supposed to say to that. Whoever's spreading those false rumours… you and me are gonna have words." The TV star said she had spotted an AI montage of her which she said looked fake.
"What are you doing?" she asked, asking those spreading the rumours to give the cruel hoax a rest. "Just shut up," Shakira, who left the Love Island villa this summer with a runner-up title and a romance with Harry Cooksley, said. "And don't believe everything you see on TikTok, love."
Fans were supportive of Shakira in the comment section as one said: "Can't get rid of you that easy." Another wrote: "Shakira stop making me fall in love with you!" A third commented: "Divas don't die guys cmon." One more added: "My diva alive!!" A fan said: "Bless you hun xxxxxx Thinking of you xxxxx."
But recently, Shakira opened up about the reality of navigating racism, toxic beauty standards, and being isolated due to her ethnicity and heritage on the hit ITV2 series. Speaking on Paul C. Brunson's podcast We Need To Talk, Shakira offered an unflinching look behind the glossy TV edits of Love Island as she shared her experiences of being judged because of her skin colour.
"People couldn't sit there and say there was no divide, there was a divide and that’s okay," she insisted. “As much as people want to s--t on that, that was my lived experience and my friends will say the same."
Shakira's clashes with housemates including Megan Moore and Helena Ford only underscored the divide between the different girl groups, and Shakira hasn't held back in slamming their previous claims that they saw no divide between the opposing cliques.
Both Megan and Helena have denied a divide ever existed after their villa experiences, but Shakira strongly disagrees. “That’s bulls**t,” she told Paul. “As much as people want to deny it, the separation was clear.”
According to Shakira, the divide was all rooted in race and appearance and the fact that a lot of the girl's did not fit the usual beauty standards that the ITV show has long upheld. Alongside fellow islanders Toni Laites and Yasmin Pettet, Shakira says she was often treated as an outsider simply for not fitting into Love Island’s most traditional mould consisting of “white skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes."
"Me, Toni and Yas call ourselves the outcasts," she explained. "But you could collectively add Billykiss to that, Malisha, Andrada, Emma… and there’s a pattern here which I don’t think anyone wants to talk about. Women of colour."
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