'It's hard watching my daughter on Love Island but I'm so proud'

When Robyn Langton told her mum that she was thinking of applying to be a contestant on the latest series of Love Island, she was supportive from the get-go.

Robyn's mother, Stacey Langton, recalled how her 21-year-old daughter, from Liverpool, was in the final few months of university, where she has been studying to be a quantity surveyor while also working as a DJ.

"She wasn't quite sure whether she wanted to or not," said mum-of-three Stacey.

"But I just said to her 'what have you got to lose'."

The ITV show, hosted by Maya Jama, returned to the small screen on Monday with its 13th series where a group of single men and women head to a villa in Mallorca in the hope of finding love.

Since it first hit screens in 2015, Love Island has become the UK's most-watched dating show, exceeding 2.5bn streams on ITVX.

After applying in March and undergoing various interviews, Robyn received a call from the production team while she was in the car with her mum to offer her a spot on the show.

"She started to have second thoughts because she had a little think about people's perceptions of when you've been on a reality TV show and what people think of you," she said.

"That was for maybe a couple of hours until she realised that actually it doesn't really matter as long as she's got the approval of her friends and family.

"She was all in then."

Stacey says while she loved seeing her daughter make the most of the opportunity, she misses not speaking to her everyday.

She said it had been hard to watch at times as he was not able to comfort her daughter.

"We're so close. I speak to Robyn multiple times a day and to know that you're not going to have contact with your daughter for possibly up to 10 weeks was really difficult for me," she said.

"She has had a rough couple of years. I've just got over breast cancer.

"I had my last preventative surgery at the end of January this year.

"I'm getting emotional now as that was a really hard process."

She said her daughter had been an invaluable support system during this time while still working and studying and dealing with family bereavements.

"I'm super proud of her," she said.

"I've had so many messages from parents and from young girls saying how she's like a breath of fresh air because she hasn't got a false tan on, there's no full face of make-up, even when she knows it's getting screened.

"Our Robyn's just not that bothered."

But, if she could speak to her daughter, what words of support or advice would she like to give her?

"Just keep being yourself," she said.

"Everyone's loving the way you're coming across and we are super proud of her but she knows that anyway."

You can watch Love Island at 21:00 BST on ITV2 and ITVX or catch up on episodes on ITVX.

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