Olivia Bowen blasts influencers for sharing bikini pictures and making lockdown ‘harder’

Olivia Bowen has slammed influencers for posting bikini pictures on the beach and making lockdown ‘harder for everyone.’

The Love Island star, 27, believes even if people are abroad for ‘work purposes’ they shouldn’t ‘flaunt’ their lifestyle on social media during a time in which the rest of the population is struggling due to coronavirus.

In an exclusive interview, Olivia urged her fellow reality stars to resist ‘rubbing it in people’s faces’ as the UK endures its third lockdown in a year.

Olivia told MailOnline: ‘You have to make sure you are going out there for the right purposes, like for work and I do feel there’s a lot of flaunting going on, which makes it harder for everyone.

‘People are going to do what they’re going to do but the fact that it is online and we see it makes it harder. If you are going to go for work purposes, don’t blast it online and rub it in people’s faces.

‘You don’t have to share; do you know what I mean? You don’t have to share you in a bikini on the beach.

‘It’s just not a necessary thing and it doesn’t look like work. It’s a hard one but at the end of the day people are going to do what they want and we’ve just got to let them get on with it.’

TOWIE’s Yazmin Oukhellou, 26, is one of the stars facing criticism for flying to Dubai amid the pandemic and alleging she relocated for ‘work purposes.’

James Lock, 34, who split from Yazmin last week, blamed Priti Patel for ‘inciting hate’ on influencers – after the Home Secretary hit out at stars for ‘showing off in the sun’ despite the country being told to stay home. 

Olivia, who found fame in 2016, insisted she isn’t tempted by jobs overseas or the prospect of a holiday until the government confirm it is safe to travel.

She added: ‘We absolutely love our holidays, we are always in bikinis and shorts but I’m more concerned about seeing my family and going to restaurants.

‘I would love to go on holiday but I’m quite homely at the moment and when we get there, we get there.’

Olivia, who is married to Love Island co-star Alex Bowen, 29, was praised last week for sharing unaltered lingerie pictures, which showed her psoriasis.

Despite the strength she showed in posting the image, Olivia admitted she has been struggling with the skin condition behind the scenes.

She said: ‘Half the reason I did that was because when I last had this at 17 I was so insecure. I went on my first girls’ holiday when I had it and being in a bikini I just felt awful.

‘When it started going all over my body again I thought if I had seen someone like me online with that I wouldn’t have felt the same way so it was worth doing.

‘It’s not to say I haven’t had my bad days. Last week I was crying my eyes out because it does make you feel insecure and you lose confidence but doing that I know I’ll help someone else with it.’

Olivia and Alex have teamed up with Just Eat on their new Breakaway competition that gives Brits the chance to enjoy takeaway independence this Valentine’s Day.

To avoid any unwanted ‘bickers’ on Sunday, the couple has agreed to order individual takeaways, after new research from Just Eat showed 45 per cent of people would rather order separately than compromise. 

Olivia said: ‘We have had bickers about takeaways and what we fancy, we never fancy the same thing and have ordered different things before, so when we heard about this Just Eat campaign we thought this is a bit of us because you can choose two different takeaways and not argue about what we’re getting.

‘It is hard because there isn’t much you can do and you don’t really want to cook so it will be nice to get a takeaway and chill. We might dress up a little bit in jeans and a dress to make ourselves feel good, rather than trackies, which is what we’re wearing every day.’ 

• Alex & Olivia Bowen have teamed up with Just Eat as part of its Breakaway campaign giving Brits the chance to go their separate ways this Valentine’s Day so they too can enjoy takeaway independence 
• To be in with a chance of winning one of 50 £40 vouchers – split in to two £20 vouchers – email [email protected] and describe why you deserve a ‘breakaway’ meal 
• For more information on how to enter and the T&C’s please visit Just Eat’s website