LOVE Island star Mike Boateng has admitted lying to police bosses after skipping work.
But the ex-cop acted out of character after facing racism in the force, a misconduct hearing was told.
Boateng returned from New York in December 2018 but said he was “unable to attend for duty” the next day at Greater Manchester Police.
When the PC came in two days later, he made excuses including losing his luggage.
Boateng admitted lying but said the situation had “escalated and he didn’t know how to backtrack”.
Judy Khan QC, representing him, cited “clear” mitigation that Boateng, 24, suffered racism and was called a “gorilla” by a colleague.
She said at the video hearing, chaired by Merseyside Police: “He eventually required time off for depression.”
Chief constable Andy Cooke said his behaviour amounted to gross misconduct but it was “clear” he was suffering from “stress”.
He would have got a final warning if still serving and was not barred from the police.
Boateng quit last year before going on Love Island.
He put on Instagram “clean hearts win” and said: “This has been a culmination of three years of mistreatment.”
