Love Island shopping row as fans slam Rebecca Gormley for ‘cultural appropriation’ as she shows off braided hair

LOVE Island star Rebecca Gormley has been caught in a row of shopping as fans slam her choice to have her hair braided.

Rebecca celebrated her 23rd birthday with a glamorous celebration in Dubai, including styling her dark hair in long braids.

The influencer posed in her hotel room in a cut-out black and white bikini top, complete with heavily contoured makeup.

She posted the series of photos to her Instagram, including a behind-the-scenes video from the photoshoot, complete with a large light ring.

A tanned Rebecca thanked fans for the birthday wishes she received while on vacation overseas.

“Birthday glam💋 extremely overwhelmed🥺 everyone’s kind messages really got me feeling ❣️ from the bottom of my heart thank you a million to everyone who made my party so special ❤️,” she captioned the post. message.

But not everyone was happy with the post, including many fans who accused it of cultural appropriation.

“It’s an appropriation, take them out,” one angry fan commented.

Another added: “very uncomfortable with it.”

And a third wrote: “Yikes this hair doesn’t work for you girl 😬 Please stick to your own culture thanks.”

The accusation of cultural appropriation stems from the fact that the braided hairstyle is commonly associated with the African American community.

Cultural appropriation is the concept adopting the “cultural elements of a minority group in an exploitative, disrespectful or stereotypical way”, according to Britannica.

Rebecca split from ex Biggs Chris last summer after a year of dating.

The model, from Newcastle, confirmed they called him a day after fans noticed they hadn’t appeared together on social media for some time.

During a fan Q&A, the 23-year-old revealed: “Everyone asks this question and the reason I didn’t tell you earlier is that I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing.

“And that’s the best thing for us so yeah, we broke up.”

After their split, Biggs, 29, headed to Ibiza to party.

It happened just weeks after Biggs said he “definitely” wanted to marry Rebecca.

He was also building their dream home for the couple in Scotland and she was set to move to Glasgow full time.

The couple were the stars of the show’s first winter series which aired in January 2020.

But despite meeting at the famous villa, they didn’t reunite until they were outside.

5

5

5

5