Linda Flix was a winter 2023 Love Island Casa Amor contestant who entered the villa on day 28 of series nine. Lynda is also the first love island contestant to enter the Villa with braids!
Every year, Love Island reaches millions of viewers, with the season 8 peak reaching 3.0 million views according to the Metro. The 2023 Winter Casa Amor episode caught the attention of up to 1.3 million viewers. The thrilled twenty-two-year-old, healthcare assistant from Salford, Manchester entered the Villa with brief notice and was under the impression that she would be cast as a bombshell and not a Casa girl. This brought Flix ample amounts of anxiety, however, she remained hopeful that she would find a delightful connection with one of the men in the season. Unfortunately, this was not the case for Lynda as she was dumped from the villa on February 16th, just four days after she had arrived.
Even though most Casa Amor contestants stay in the Villa for only four to five days. They usually gain much publicity by catching the attention of viewers from home which leads to further career opportunities and a larger following. Sad to say, this was not the case for Lynda. Flix was barely given any screen time and Love Island fans were left bewildered after noticing her absence. Flix was heartbroken to see that her time in the villa had barely been shown. Some fans came to Lynda's defense and claim the producers purposely embarrassed her by not showing even candid clips of her.
Witnessing the hate
Unfortunately, this was not the only thing Lynda was left heartbroken by. Once she had returned back to social media she was met with an overwhelming amount of abuse regarding her hair. At what Lynda looked at as a great opportunity to present herself in her most comfortable state, instead she only left feeling insecure and insulted.
The healthcare worker faced brutal abuse online from her decision to enter the villa with braids. Lynda's love of wearing braids has been long-lasting and she is not ashamed to wear this hairstyle publicly on national television. In my interview with Flix, she detailed to me that hairstyles such as wigs and weaves are more unfamiliar to her and they require a higher level of maintenance that she was not prepared to handle for the first time and whilst on the show. The anxiety for her to conform to Eurocentric standards with her hair was prevalent, however, she did not give in.
In my interview with Lynda she expressed that she didn't expect there to be so much outrage regarding her hair.
The hate Lynda received
As mentioned above, The 2023 Winter Casa Amor episode caught the attention of up to 1.3 million viewers. And just as Lynda's appearance was a great conversation so was her hair. Although at first there was warm welcomes for her being the first to enter the Island with braids, it was difficult to miss a conversation regarding the condition of her hair.
However, Lynda felt anxious as she was aware that while she was in the holding villa her braids were becoming quite old but when she requested for it to be redone or a stylist to come to her aid it was ultimately denied. Lynda bought packs of hair extensions in case she was able to redo her hair as she was aware she could be in the villa for longer than four days if chosen by one of the male love island contestants. This opens the question as to why there was no stylist available to accompany her hair and does this highlight how much more inclusive the media industry still needs to become in relation to appearance?
It is no secret that society struggles to accommodate black women. This is seen within all creative sectors like makeup artists not having the right shades along with hair stylists not receiving the right education on how to cater to black women's hair. This can result in black creatives feeling upset, frustrated and also not confident as they are not being presented as what they would deem their best.
The Afro-hair community is still in need of more Afro hair and makeup specialists in these spaces. I feel like this would significantly help the issue of black people not feeling physically represented well in the media.
Lynda feeling Marginalised in the villa
Whilst being in the Villa Lynda noticed other contestants were getting touch-ups and she felt isolated due to knowing that no one could help her out.
The tweets above really affected Lynda's mental health coming out of the Villa and It make her aware that members of the black hair community have higher standards to uphold when it comes to their appearance. Since this incident, Lynda's hair has remained to be a cause for conversation but luckily it no longer shakes her.
Following my discussion with Lynda she posted this to her TikTok account with 13 thousand followers as a reminder for other black women to feel comfortable in their hair despite any hateful comments they made encounter.
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