Love Island race row as fans slam Rebecca Gormley for ‘cultural appropriation’ as she shows off braided hair

LOVE Island star Rebecca Gormley has been caught up in a race row as fans slam her choice to get braid in her hair.

Rebecca celebrated her 23rd birthday with a glamorous celebration in Dubai, including having her dark hair styled in long braids.

Love Island’s Rebecca Gormley offends fans with new hairdo

The influencer posed her hotel room in a cut-out black and white bikini top, with heavily contoured make-up.

She posted the series of photos to her Instagram, including a behind the scenes look video of the photo shoot, complete with a big ring light.

A tan looking Rebecca thanked fans for the birthday wishes she had received while holidaying abroad.

“Birthday glam extremely overwhelmed everyone’s kind messages really got me in my feelsfrom the bottom of my heart thanks a million to everyone who made my party so special ,” she captioned the post.

But not everyone was happy with the post, including many fans who accused her of cultural approrpriation.

“This is appropriation take them out,” commented one angry fan.

Another added: “very uncomfortable w this.”

And a third wrote: “Yikes, that hair is not working for you girl Please stick to your own culture thx.”

The accusation of cultural appropriation comes because the braided hairstyle is typically associated with the African American community.

Cultural appropriation is the concept adopting the “cultural elements of a minority group in an exploitative, disrespectful, or stereotypical way”, according to Britannica.

Rebecca split from ex Biggs Chris last summer after a year of dating.

The model, from Newcastle, confirmed they had called it a day after fans noticed they hadn’t appeared together on social media for some time.

During a Q&A with fans, the 23-year-old revealed:  “Everyone is asking this question and the reason why I haven’t told you any sooner is that I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing.

“And it is the best thing for us so yeah, we have broke up.”

Following their split Biggs, 29,  headed to Ibiza to party.

It came just weeks after Biggs said he “definitely” wanted to marry Rebecca.

He was also building the couple their dream home together in Scotland and she was set to relocate to Glasgow full time.

The pair were stars of the show’s first winter series that aired in January 2020.

But despite meeting in the famous villa – they didn’t get together until they were on the outside.

The reality star was celebrating her birthday in Dubai where she showed off her new hair

But fans slammed her braids as cultural appropriation

Rebecca is no stranger to getting braids and has opted for them multiple times over the years

Including in her announcement with ex Biggs Chris that they were moving in together, the couple split months later