IF you’re a Love Island fan, you will know all about Casa Amor.
It’s a time for connections to be tested and a new set of stunning singletons to try and earn their way into the main villa.
We spoke to Lynda Christ, also known as Lynda Flix, about her Love Island experience
Lynda explained that not only did she get barely any air time, but she was led to believe she would be a Bombshell, and was only told at the last minute, when in South Africa, that she in fact would be a Casa Amor girl
Lynda (right) explained that she felt “mugged off” and “down” about barely getting any screen time
But we spoke to a Casa Amor contestant from Series Nine, who unfortunately only lasted four days on the ITV show.
On top of this, she got barely any air time too, with fans at the time convinced that she had quit the show due to her lack of screen time.
Not only was she barely shown on our screens, but Lynda Christ, who also goes by her artist name, Lynda Flix, explained that she felt producers tricked her into thinking she would be a Bombshell and also didn’t show her ‘secret’ connection.
The 22-year-old, from Manchester, told Fabulous: “I really wanted to go on the show because I wanted to find love. I had been single for quite some time and my friends were telling me to go on it.
“I applied and I got on which I was surprised about, I didn’t think I would actually get on it. But I stayed true to myself and stayed confident.
“I went through the audition process and was surprised and shocked when I was told I got it.”
But Lynda explained that she felt blindsided by producers, as she had asked not to be a Casa Amor girl, so was shocked when she arrived in South Africa and was told she wouldn’t be a Bombshell.
She said: “I didn’t know I was going to be in Casa Amor. I auditioned to be a Bombshell. They already had the OGs lined up already so by the time they interviewed me was when they were looking for Bombshells.
“I remember saying to the producers that I really didn’t want to go in as a Casa girl, but they didn’t even answer, they just said ‘yeah, yeah, yeah’ and then at the last minute they told me I was going into Casa. They didn’t tell me I would be in Casa Amor, not until the last minute.
“I’d obviously flown out all the way to South Africa, I didn’t want to just go back home, it would’ve been a waste of my time after a week of waiting, so I had to just accept the offer.
“To be honest, I would’ve preferred to be a Bombshell. You have more time to get to know people. The Casa Amor process was very short, it was literally a few days. I found it hard to make a connection in those few days.”
While Lynda has never watched the show back, she explained that she was told by countless people that she had barely any air time.
She revealed: “I got barely any air time. I was surprised because I was talking to the guys and getting to know everyone. I felt like they didn’t show anything of me talking to anyone. It wasn’t really fair.
“I was in Casa Amor for four days. It was a good experience, but not knowing how you’d be portrayed and how it would be edited was scary.
“I didn’t know I wouldn’t have air time. I came out and people said ‘we didn’t even see you’ and then people started coming for my braids.
“People said ‘her braids look old’, ‘why do her braids look like that?’.
“But the funny thing was, when I was told I was on the show, they said they would provide someone to do my braids while I was there.
“So I took hair extensions with me, thinking that someone could do it while I was in the holding period. But then when I asked they said that they couldn’t do it so I had to go in. It was very unfair.
“The hair was already grown out and it was last minute when I flew over.”
Looking back at her lack of air time, Lynda opened up about how it made her feel.
She admitted: “I felt mugged off. I felt like a joke.
“The other Casa people got shown more than me but I was literally not even shown talking to anyone.
“I was shown in the intro and then just me sleeping and doing my make-up and that’s just not right.
“I didn’t watch it back, I couldn’t. Everyone told me I wasn’t shown so I felt like if I watched it I’d feel even worse. People were even making memes on Twitter and joking that I was a missing person.
“When I got out, it was really hard on me, I felt quite low. I had literally lost my job as well, so it was really hard.”
Not only did she not get much air time, but she also didn’t think the Casa Amor experience was fair, as it wasn’t long enough.
She continued: “Personally, I feel like the experience could’ve been longer, at least a couple more days.
“I think it was unfair going into Casa Amor and only having a couple of days to get to know someone.
“I don’t think that’s realistic in the real world. I felt like that was rushed.
“People were being competitive with each other. I felt I had to put myself out there and do more than I normally would do in the outside world. It made me feel uncomfortable.”
However, Lynda revealed that she did in fact have a slight connection during her time in Casa Amor, with Shaq.
She explained: “I think people thought I was shy and wasn’t talking to anyone, which wasn’t the case.
“I was getting to know the guys and they probably thought there weren’t any strong connections because I didn’t kiss anyone.
“But at the beginning there was a bit of flirting with me and Shaq.
“We had a flirt and he said he could see things going somewhere with me, and I felt they could’ve at least shown that, but they didn’t. Shaq knows that he said that so it’s funny that they didn’t air that.
“I had a bit of a connection with him, him reciprocating that he could see things going somewhere with me and him saying I was attractive, that was nice.”
Lynda explained that the lack of air time continued at the Love Island Reunion too.
She shared: “Even at the reunion, two producers came up to me and said ‘Lynda, you’re so confident, why weren’t you like that on the show?’
“But I was confident so I didn’t know what they were talking about. They were trying to make it seem like it was my fault.
“I was even questioning not going to the reunion because of it but I thought they would let me talk for a change, but they didn’t.”
Since coming out of the show, Lynda opened up on how things have been.
She noted: “I am grateful that I got a chance to go on the show, and even with me not being shown, people are so supportive of me.
“People say ‘you have such a personality, I wish you were shown more’ and people are getting to know the real me now that the show has ended.”
But although Lynda has had an influx of positive attention, she explained that people have been nasty too.
She claimed: “There’s trolls everywhere, people say everything.
“I never thought I’d get hate comments but I’ve had hate comments with people saying I look like a boy. They say I look like a man.”
Luckily for Lynda, things are looking up. While she hasn’t currently got a full-time job, she has been working hard on music and has recently released her first single.
She said: “Now I’m starting a new job as a Health Advisor in the next two weeks.
“I’ve always been a musician but only just started taking it seriously.
“I have been getting lots of music offers from music companies and I might end up in the US in future.”
Fabulous will pay for your exclusive stories. Just email: [email protected] and pop EXCLUSIVE in the subject line.
She explained that she tried to get to know all of the guys and had a connection with Shaq which wasn’t shown
Lynda admitted that she hasn’t watched back the series
She explained that since leaving the show, she has experienced trolling, with nasty anonymous users saying she looks “like a man”