‘I’ll never understand why people do it…’ — Josie Gibson passionately defends Olivia Attwood after backlash over her new This Morning role, slams ‘unfair criticism’ and praises her as “brilliant” amid furious debate over Love Islander’s big break - suong

JOSIE Gibson has fiercely defended Olivia Attwood following backlash over the Love Islander’s new presenter role on This Morning. 

The Love Island alum - known for giving her take on a variety of issues on ITV daytime series Loose Women - revealed her huge new telly role in June before exclusively telling The Sun she has "put the work in" for the plum broadcasting job.

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Though she's not the first reality star to host the show, with fellow summer star and X Factor icon Rylan Clark having already proven a dab hand on the set alongside Big Brother’s Josie, Olivia's villa background hasn't gone down well with some traditionalists who have gone so far as to say they'll "definitely stop watching”.

Olivia clapped back at trolls who shared their dismay with her appointment and insisted "there's much more to me."

Now, Josie, 40, who is a regular presenter on the daytime TV show has defended her co-star and told The Sun that Olivia is “brilliant” in the role. 

She said: “Oh my God she’s brilliant. It’s brilliant she gets to do this and I think she’s really good. Yeah, really good.

“Honestly, you get some backlash like that in this industry and I really don’t know why people do it.” 

Josie added: “I’ll never understand why people do it, you know. To me, I’ve always loved to see people do well and I genuinely love it. 

“I love it when people succeed and I want to bring everybody up and make sure everybody has a go on the horses, do you know what I mean? 

“I think Olivia is brilliant in the role.” 

Popular presenter Josie spoke to The Sun while currently juggling a busy work schedule and being a single mum during the summer holidays. 

The Bristolian is mum to adorable son Reggie, and she spoke to The Sun about how she juggles it all.

“I have loads of people around me who always go the extra mile,” the TV star said, adding: “Me and my friends have a group and it’s great, like a mum’s club. 

“So I’ll have the kids for a day or two and then they will do the same and we pass them around in our little mum’s club. 

“They’re a great group of women and the kids are lovely and Reg has summer clubs he’ll go to as well and family chip in to help. We make it work. 

“We’ve got Camp Bestival coming up this weekend too, so we’re very excited about that.” 

This summer, Iceland has announced a range of initiatives to help and support families, this latest activity sees Josie front a nationwide search for ‘Summer Stars’, those everyday heroes who go the extra mile to help other families survive the long school holidays.

Discussing the amazing initiative, Josie urged: “Make sure you nominate people who are going the extra mile. 

“Everyone in the UK would shut down without people like this helping out and going the extra mile, so make sure you get nominating.” 

The winners, chosen weekly by independent judges, will each receive a £100 Iceland gift card and a £200 Love 2 Shop Holiday voucher.

Nominations are now open here, and anyone can submit their entry, explaining why their nominee deserves recognition.

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