Joey Essex has banned Love Island contestants from mentioning The Only Way is Essex. The 33-year-old reality TV veteran - who became the first ever celebrity to enter the civilian version of the ITV2 dating competition at the beginning of this season - became fed up with references to TOWIE flying around the villa, according to recently dumped Islander Patsy Field. The 29-year-old office administrator revealed: "Everyone was quoting TOWIE.
All of the girls were quoting TOWIE. Joey put us on a TOWIE quote ban at one point. [He] said, 'We're going to need to drop it now.
'" Patsy defended the habit by pointing out they weren't poking fun at Joey - who was coupled up with Samantha Kenny, before moving on to Grace Jackson - but paying homage to Gemma Collins , 43, who has made a name for herself as a reality TV icon. She added to Closer: "But we couldn't help it, and we said, 'We're not actually quoting TOWIE, we're just quoting The GC'. She is a living legend, so can you blame us really?" Joey - who has appeared on several reality TV shows such as Dancing on Ice , I'm A Celebrity .
.. Get Me Out Of Here!, Celebs Go Dating and many more - hit the headlines when he entered the Love Island villa as a bombshell on launch night.
But he's not receiving any special treatment on the Maya Jama-fronted show. A source told MailOnline: "Joey is being treated like any other Love Island contestant, he's playing by the same rules and won't be given any preferential treatment. He hasn't been paid.
