LOVE Island hopeful Hugo Hammond wants to show people with disabilities can be “mainstream.”
Hugo, 24, was born with club foot, and is the first ever Love Island contestant to have a physical disability.
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He said he considers himself “not a disabled person, but just a person who has a disability” in an interview ahead of the show’s launch on Monday June 28.
He told PA Media: “If I can set a great example and show people that having a disability doesn’t mean you can’t be mainstream or it doesn’t mean that I don’t have a right to find love and things like that, then that would be great.
“I would love to be the torch bearer for that.”
He continued to say how his disability “doesn’t define” him and explained: “[The other Islanders] probably will notice at some point, especially when I’m not walking in shoes, because I have got a slightly shorter Achilles tendon from the operation, so I walk slightly on my tiptoes.
“So people will notice and I will very happily educate them and tell them and inform them about everything I have been through and what other people go through.”
He added: “I’m very lucky that I had very supportive parents growing up and they kind of got all my operations done at an early age, so to be honest I don’t really remember it that much.
“I now just walk with a little bit of extra swagger is how I like to describe it, as I wobble about sometimes without my shoes on. It doesn’t define me.”
Hugo is a PE teacher with previous experience travelled the world as a member of England PD, the national physical disability team.
Both Hugo and fellow newcomer Shannon Singh have been slammed as heartbreakers after ditching their partners just weeks before signing up for the hit show, which starts tomorrow.
He has been accused of ditching two women to clear his path to the famous villa.
He claimed he is a “relationship type of guy” but abruptly ended his relationship with long-term girlfriend Millie Simmons, 22, earlier this year.
And he also cut contact with Kathryn Burrows, 21, who he exchanged flirty texts with after ending his relationship with pretty Millie.
Fans can’t wait to see the latest stunning hopefuls who are launching their bid to find true love on the show.
But today’s revelations expose the pair of wannabes who have left a string of broken hearts in their wake before the first show has even been screened.
Love Island starts Monday 28th June at 9pm on ITV2.
