From just the first episode alone, Love Island All Stars has already served the drama. Olivia Hawkins called out Ronnie Vint for messaging her while he was dating Harriett Blackmore, Marcel Somerville received red flags a-plenty after admitting to cheating on Gabby Allen, and the bombshell of all bombshells walked through the door in the form of Ekin-Su.
With so much going on, it’s no surprise that social media was abuzz – but it turned out that Blazin’ Squad rapper Marcel was the one in the hot seat.
Coming face to face with his ex Gabby – who he met on the show back in 2017 – the conversation quickly went to their former relationship. The couple split in 2018, with Marcel admitting to sleeping with someone else while him and Gabby were on holiday. However, the betrayal didn't seem to put the public off - with the exes being matched by the public in the first coupling.
Reacting to news, one fan wrote, ‘If I was Gabby, I would self evict.’
Another added, ‘Love that Gabby goes straight on Episode one of Love Island All Stars and tells the nation about Marcel cheating right from the start.’
However, it wasn’t only cheating that had eyebrows raised. Many viewers were shocked to learn that the rapper is in fact still married to his former partner, Rebecca Vieira. The couple tied the knot back in 2022, and share a son, Roman, together, who is turning four this month.
‘Marcel back on Love Island while still being legally married is crazy,’ wrote one fan, as another wrote, ‘Marcel saying he’s looking for love while still being legally married is truly sending me.’
Turns out, not everyone was aware of Marcel’s marriage – or the cheating scandal that accompanied it. Luckily for you, we’ve got the facts all covered.
What happened between Marcel Somerville and Gabby Allen?
First thing’s first: it’s time for a bit of context.
Time travel back to 2017, when Marcel, 39, and Gabby, 32, first met on series three of Love Island. After coupling up in week one, the pair ended up finishing in fourth place.
Less than a year after leaving the villa, Gabby revealed that the fan favourite couple had split. At the time, reports surfaced that Marcel had slept with someone else while he and Gabby were on holiday in February 2018 – something which was confirmed on the first episode of All Stars.
Expressing his regret in an interview after their 2018 split, Marcel said, ‘I’m upset. I’m sad. I made a mistake and there’s nothing I can do.'
His rep also said at the time, ‘Marcel can’t really defend his actions as he knows what he did wrong and will regret it forever. Marcel is upset that he broke the heart of someone he loves and someone that he shared so many special moments with, but with all the good times there are difficult times, and sadly Marcel and Gabby had been in a bad place at this stage.’
Chapter closed - until All Stars, that is...
What happened between Marcel and Rebecca Vieira?
Almost four years after splitting from Gabby, Marcel seemed to have found his happy ending with social media influencer Rebecca Vieira, 28.
After meeting at a nightclub in 2018, the couple tied the knot in August 2022 – after welcoming their son, Roman, in January 2021. The pair had been together for 14 months before discovering that Rebecca was pregnant, with Marcel describing his family as his ‘life.’
Who did Rebecca Vieira 'cheat' with?
Despite it seeming like Marcel had found his happy ending, the couple hit headlines last year after Rebecca admitted to sending flirty messages to US rapper Slim Jxmmi. Slim Jxmmi is best known for being one part of the hip hop duo Rae Sremmurd, alongside his brother Swae Lee. They rose to fame with hit songs including ‘No Type’ and ‘Black Beatles.’
The drama unfolded when the mother of Slim’s child, KD, took to her social media claiming that Rebecca had sent ‘intimate messages’ and alleged nude photos to her child’s father – tagging both Marcel and Rebecca in the posts.
‘Cheating on your husband with my son’s dad is crazy… especially after being in my DMs trying to link with me and be cool. Nasty work,’ wrote KD, before posting a slew of receipts.
A source at the time shared, ‘Marcel is absolutely devastated. Rebecca was his life and he’s changed so many things about his lifestyle to make her happy. The poor guy feels like he’s in a nightmare and he keeps hoping he’ll wake up.
‘To know that Rebecca was telling another man she loves him, and then spent Valentine’s Day with him has completely broken him. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do now, but he’s moved out of the family home.’
Admitting that she’d made a ‘huge mistake,’ Rebecca publicly apologised, writing, ‘I’ve embarrassed not only my husband, but myself and both our families.
‘My actions were foolish and have hurt so many people around us, but most importantly, my husband. I’ve said a lot of things that I shouldn’t have and it was stupid of me, so I won’t sit and here justify my actions. Those decisions should never have been made.’
Apologising to Marcel directly alongside a snap of their wedding rings, she added, ‘No one in the world comes before you and our family. No one could ever compare.'
Responding to the bombshell news, Marcel swiftly unfollowed Rebecca on Instagram, removing all traces of her from his profile.
While Slim Jxmmi kept relatively tight lipped about the storm unfolding around him, he did acknowledge the fallout on Instagram. ‘I hate BM [baby momma] did this,’ he wrote, adding, ‘Rebecca is a good woman, it ain’t even like that.’
Is Marcel still married?
We’ll admit that it’s perhaps not the most conventional move to head onto All Stars whilst still married...
It turns out that Marcel is still legally still married to Rebecca - however, it's important to note that he is single. Having filed for divorce last year, Marcel is separated from his wife and awaiting for the divorce to be finalised - something which can take a substantial amount of time.
Opening up about his situation ahead of his All Stars entrance, Marcel said, ‘Divorce can take a while, but if I’m not with someone and I’m not in a relationship with that person, is it fair for me to be like “oh cool,” I’m not going to do anything for the next year and a half or two years, whatever it is, until my divorce is filed for me to move on and start living my life again?’
Of course, Marcel’s marital status left many with the burning question of: are you actually allowed to date while you’re still married?
The answer is, of course! Beyond Law Group write that ‘separating spouses may worry that they are "not allowed" to date whilst they are still legally married to someone else. This is not the case. You absolutely can date when you are going through a divorce.’
However, they also noted that it can make coming to a settlement somewhat difficult - explaining, 'One thing it might do is upset your partner. If you are trying to come to an agreement about how your assets should be split, your dating life might cause friction and increase any animosity.
'This is not a particularly "legal" point, but it is something to consider. Further, some divorces are amicable, and your former partner may be pleased to see you moving on or may have moved on themselves.'
What has Rebecca said about Marcel going on Love Island?
So far, Rebecca hasn’t publicly addressed seeing her estranged husband walk into the villa - however she did post a cryptic quote which some fans believe could be aimed at Marcel.
After Marcel was confirmed for A_ll Stars,_ Rebecca posted a quote reading, ‘What makes you beautiful is that you stayed soft in a life that tried to harden you.’
Marcel also opened up before heading into the villa about how his ex-wife reacted to his Love Island return.
Revealing how he broke the news, Marcel said in a pre-show interview, ‘I had to tell Rebecca that I wasn’t going to be around for a few weeks. She said, “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this is happening.” But she’s got to a point of understanding that our relationship has broken down. We’re going through a divorce. It’s got to get to a point where we have to start moving forward and living our lives separately.’
Admitting the news came as a ‘shock,’ he added, ‘She wasn’t expecting it to happen, but she’s become accepting of the situation because she made a mistake.'
What have Gabby and Marcel said about being on Love Island together?
Back where they began, it's only normal that fans are now questioning whether there may be a second chance for newly-single Marcel and his ex, Gabby...
Opening up about potentially rekindling his romance with his former Love Island girlfriend, the Blazin’ Squad star said, ‘You can never say never, but obviously it’s all hypothetical. If she was in there, I think it would probably be more of a situation of seeing what the energy was like between us and seeing if there was still that spark there. It’s been seven years, the spark might not be reignited.’
Meanwhile, Gabby insisted there were ‘no hard feelings,’ saying, ‘I would actually just like to have a conversation with him and hopefully put it all behind us and have some sort of friendship. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t take the positives from it and hopefully be mates of some sort.’
Any chance of a 2017 re-run? Only time will tell…