THE proud father of Amy Hart has spoken about her exit from Love Island.

The 27-year-old left the Spanish villa in Tuesday night’s episode of the TV dating show after her devastating split from ballroom dancer Curtis Pritchard.

Her father Ian Hart, a funeral director in Worthing, said she had phoned him on Monday to say she was planning to quit.

He said: “She felt there wasn’t enough time to meet someone else, her head was not in the right place and she thought Curtis would not be able to move on if she was still there.

“You have to back her up, you can’t suppress your children and you have to go along with their decision.

“I personally think it was the right one. I think she was very, very brave, and ultimately, she’s left on her own terms.”

When asked what he thought of the tumultuous TV relationship, he replied: “We’ve all been young once”.

Ian said the family are excited about welcoming the former air stewardess back tonight.

He said: “I don’t think she will ever forget the summer of 2019, none of us will, but more importantly, she did herself proud and continued to be herself.

“You could clearly see in the reaction to her leaving what a contribution she made to the villa.”

Amy had coupled up with Curtis, brother of Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer AJ Pritchard, at the beginning of the show.

The pair immediately won the hearts of viewers and became favourites to take home the show’s £50,000 prize money.

But the relationship broke down after he kissed another girl.

The fallout episode, which featured other couples also struggling with the aftermath, sparked 196 complaints to Ofcom.

Looking back at the whole experience, Ian said: “There’s been some misreporting in the national press – but why let the truth get in the way of a good story?

“There wasn’t a point where I stopped watching altogether but there were bits I watched and bits I didn’t.

“But the family have learnt a lot about Amy as a character in a positive way.

“And I’ve learnt, at 54, what a minefield social media is.

“I want to thank everybody locally, including The Argus, for their support.

“It’s been superb”.

Love Island, hosted by Caroline Flack, continues on ITV2.