Love Island 2023: Zara claims unaired argument with Tom before Truth or Date game left her in tears

Zara Lackenby-Brown has claimed that she was brought to tears during an unaired argument with Tom Clare.

The bombshell, 25, from London, was dumped from Love Island’s South African villa after  her former flame Tom Clare opted to couple up with Ellie Spence during a shock recoupling in last Wednesday’s episode.

Viewers of the ITV series weren’t surprised by Tom’s choice as there had been tension between the 23-year-old footballer and Zara in the days prior.

The model has claimed that an unaired argument between them impacted viewers’ perception of her as they had no “context” for her reactions.

Zara was left visibly upset after a challenge where Tom chose her as the girl with the best body, while stating his perfect girl would have Olivia Hawkin’s face.

She explained to Grazia that she had been brought to tears during an argument with Tom which took place just moments before the islanders played Truth or Dare.

Zara said: “The argument with Tom was unaired and it’s weird that it wasn’t aired actually – context wise it would have made sense why the challenge went the way it did.”

The former contestant revealed that the argument began after Tom accused her of fancying Aaron and using Shaq to make him jealous.

She was moved to tears while trying to reassure him that the claims were false.

Speaking about how it impacted her reaction in the game, she continued: “So, of course already I went into it feeling like other Islanders had been speaking about me and not said it to my face.”

Zara said she spoke to Tom after the challenge and he admitted that he didn’t choose her for all three options because he didn’t want to be called boring.

“That’s the thing with Tom, I think he’s too concerned about how people see him instead of just doing what he wants to do and what’s right. He’s too focused on being the nice guy but you’re actually hurting people in the process - you can’t please everyone,” she added.

During an appearance on today’s Love Island: The Morning After podcast, Zara revealed that she would be open to getting to know Kai Fagan more after the series.

She also told hosts Indiyah Polack and Sam Thompson that Tom may be better suited to islander Samie Elishi. He was seen teaching her how to swim and enjoyed a kiss with her during last night’s episode.

Zara said: “I think Samie is obviously more his age and where they are at in their life, they really relate. I think Tom likes quite a fiery girl and I feel like Samie’s got quite a bit about her.

“I think that’s what he liked about me originally and I think he’s found that in Samie too. They seem quite compatible.”