Love Island star Dami Hope addresses Indiyah Polack split for first time as he calls THAT kiss scandal 'embarrassing and disrespectful' and blasts fans for 'trying to twist me into the villain'

Dami Hope has broken his silence on his messy split from Indiyah Polack for the first time, since the pair revealed they had quietly called it quits just before Christmas.

The two Love Island stars met and fell for each other on the ITV2 show in 2022, ending up in third place behind champions Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and Davide Sanclimenti and Gemma Owen and Luca Bish.

However, in many viewers' minds, they were the real winners, as their relationship thrived after leaving the villa, going on to move in together in London later that year.

But fans were stunned when The Daily Mail revealed on New Year's Day that the couple had gone their separate ways after almost four years.

A source said at the time: 'Indiyah and Dami have sadly decided to part ways after three years together. It's been a difficult time for them both, they built their lives together, and no one expected their relationship to end so suddenly.

'They have no plans to enter the Love Island: All Stars villa. Indiyah is focused on co-hosting the podcast, while Dami isn't interested, knowing it would be an unforgivable level of disrespect.'

Yet the rumour mill went into overdrive when Dami, 29, confirmed the break-up in a telling one-line statement that suggested infidelity had been to blame.

It read: 'Dami Hope and Indiyah Polack are no longer together, having ended their relationship shortly after Christmas due to a breach of trust.'

And just days later, a video surfaced on TikTok showing Indiyah, 27, passionately kissing basketball player and video-game streamer Marlon Lundgren Garcia on December 3 at glitzy London restaurant Duck & Waffle.

The pair had met while filming season three of Netflix’s Inside, the British YouTuber group The Sidemen’s reality competition show, where influencers compete to protect a £1million prize fund.

After the footage emerged, Indiyah posted a brief statement on Instagram confirming it was her in the clip and acknowledging she had made 'a mistake'.

‘I am aware of the video that has been shared online', she wrote. 'I made a mistake and take full responsibility for my actions. I understand the hurt this has caused. I won’t be commenting further.’

Meanwhile, Dami made his feelings clear about Marlon during a livestreamed chat shortly after with pal and former Love Islander Tyrique Hyde, who asked him: ‘Do you think you’ll punch up Marlon?’

He replied: ‘If I was getting paid to do it, I’d smash him up! But I don’t fight young yutes [young people].’

Since then, he has stayed silent about his ex-girlfriend and the infamous kissing video, despite speculation continuing to run rampant online.

This week, Dami addressed the split for the first time on Paul C. Brunson’s podcast, We Need To Talk, revealing what happened and how the internet blamed him for the break-up by accusing him of cheating or being gay due to his fashion sense.

Opening on the 'uncomfortable situation', he admitted the infidelity had been 'shocking', because their relationship had been in a good place at the time.

'We committed to each other for so long,' he said. 'We did so many anniversaries, so many holidays with each other. We did everything together. We talked about marriage.'

He added that Indiyah had set a lot of boundaries for him in the relationship, but ended up being the one that crossed that.

Recalling how he learned of the kiss, Dami said Indiyah had told him just two days later, but that he'd already had suspicions because she had been out all night and morning and not texted to say where she was.

'I found out probably on December 5th,' he explained. 'And it was just because of the chain of events of things didn’t make sense, and I’m too clued in to not figure stuff out, especially because I’ve been with you for so long.

'It just wasn't adding up. And then eventually she came forward to tell me. And then obviously, I said "I can't be in this relationship".'

Reflecting on the hurt and anger he felt at the time, he explained he had to call time on the romance because 'the trust has been broken'.

'There's no sense of hate for her,' he insisted. 'Like at the end of the day, you're someone I've been with for so long that I'm still able to be in this capacity with you. 

'But I do need to have some level of self-respect for myself as well, to be like, "you know what? This isn't what I want anymore. I can't be here or do this". 

'Because at the end of the day I'm an honest person, and I always want just people to be honest. And I feel like when trust has been broken like that and in such a silly kind of way... 

'You feel all these types of emotions, but at the same time you just gotta exhale for a second, because you're asking "How could you, how could you do all these things?"

'I felt angry. I felt like "why would you do that, why would you disrespect me and us like that? For what? For a short time that you had on a show?"

'It's okay for you to be friends with the opposite sex, but like there's boundaries in place. This isn't even a boundary cross, this is just like straight you don't do this if you're in a relationship.'

While he suggested there was even more to the story of what happened between Indiyah and Marlon, adding: 'People might say it’s just a kiss and all that, but I don’t actually know what the full story is.

'Because there are certain elements that are part of the story that confuse me, do you know what I mean? I don’t want to go into it, I don’t want to spread too much info about her.'

However, Dami explained that because their relationship was in the public eye, it was hard from him to process the split privately, with fans questioning why he wasn't spending time with Indiyah.

He recalled: 'I'm trying to keep us away from the embarrassment of it online and everything as well. So it's a whole nother thing that you've got to deal with. 

'And for the most part I continue to play my part, like on her birthday I still have to show up because the internet doesn't know. I remember people were hitting me up like, "How are you out when you're girlfriend's at home?" And I'm like, "Bro you don't even known what I'm going through here".'

But then the video of the kiss emerged online, with Dami recalling how difficult it was to watch the footage and also have all his friends see it too, branding it 'embarrassing and disrespectful'.

He said: 'I have to listen to everybody's phone ping at the same time. And I have to myself watch this video and then look at all my friends watch the same video, and everyone's in shock. 

'Because it's one thing of you've heard it, but then seeing it... From that point it was just like, this is so embarrassing and just disrespectful. Because I just feel like it wasn't worth whatever we had to do that.'

However, despite the video quickly going viral, he explained that fans still were pushing the narrative that he was to blame for the split, suggesting that he deserved to be cheated on.

Dami admitted he struggled seeing himself be 'villainized' online, where he was attacked for his actions on Love Island or for his fashion forward outfits, with people accusing him of cheating or being gay.

'I just had to remove myself from that situation, but at the same time it still wasn't enough for the internet, because the internet still want to believe I had to have done something first,' he said.

'They're like it must be AI, or Dami's been cheating for a time so she's just getting her own back, or how Dami dresses that's why she's done that. People were like, "Oh my god, she should cheat on him again!" All these things I'm seeing online.

'Like I stand for women protecting women, but it comes to a point where it's like what have I actually done to you guys? I ain't done anything.

'I don't have to explain myself to the internet, but when I'm seeing people just always trying to twist things and further trying to make me this villain. It's kind of grinding on the teeth. 

'If you don't know something and if I don't speak about it, they then form their own ideas as to why everything has happened and it's just a lot of noise.'

He went on: 'People have been accusing me of cheating. I'm gay. They attack my masculinity just from how I dress from me being expressive with my fashion. I can get my nails done, I can put on makeup. 

'This is like all these little things they used to paint this picture of me as a person that isn't even me.'

Yet he insisted: 'But at the end of the day I don't care about being expressive. I want to be this way. I want to live my truth. I want to be myself, you know what I mean? 

'I feel like all these things being used now against me, especially in this situation. And it's a thing where it's like it's unfair, but at the same time it's like, this is the aim of the game that I got into.'

The interview marks the first time that Dami has ever spoken on the split, and he said that the reason he kept silent was that he still cared for Indiyah and wanted the best for her.

'I genuinely still have a care for her. I've loved her, I’ve been with her for so long and there's a level of care that I'll always have,' he said. 

'And at the end of the day, it's like I'm not trying to bash her and I don't want anything to happen to like who she is, like I want her to still be good.'

While he said that he still found it sad that their romance had ended like that and in such a public way, with the internet turning it into a joke.

He said: 'I've not spoken about it and I never wanted to speak about it, but now publicly I have to deal with it and the whole embarrassment of it and people making a mockery of it and joking about the both of us. 

'We're having to go through this whole turmoil of what was such a beautiful relationship and now this is how it ends. It's a bit sad.'

Dami said that now he and Indiyah are on amicable terms, and will sometimes message or wish each other a happy birthday.

'I don't want any trouble for my ex, there's none of that,' he insisted. 'Yes, it's happened, but we moved on. We've processed it, we're civil at this point now. 

'We don't talk all the time, but we're giving ourselves that window of space to like just heal and process this and deal with it.'

And the messy split hasn't put him off meeting someone new, with the star saying he was open to getting back into the dating game.

'I'm not opposed to dating. I mean, I have to get back on the horse,' he said. 'I don't spend too much dwelling in pain. 

'I just have to put my best foot forward and keep going, life's not done yet. Whoever's out there for me will be out there for me.'