Sherif Lanre was suddenly booted from the Love Island villa by producers last week under mysterious circumstances - only for it to later transpire he had 'playfully kicked Molly-Mae in the vagina’.

The 20-year-old reality TV show contestant was interviewed by Will Njobvu for Channel 5 Newsthought on Wednesday, where he discussed his thoughts on his shock departure and whether race and gender played a part in the punishment.

The Londoner explained that while he accepted his fate at the time, he has since reflected on whether being removed from the show was too harsh.

He said: 'It all happened so quickly. At the time, I agreed with the fact that I'd broken the rules and regulations, which are pretty strict in there given that it's such a big show for ITV.

'When I equate it with some of the stuff that's happened with previous contestants and some of the stuff that was happening on the show now, it's hard for me to see how they equate things in their system.

'The severity with with they hold one thing against another is a bit off balance. That being said, it's down to the public and ITV to decide what was right.'

Asked point-blank whether the producers' decision was racist, Sherif mused: 'I don't think it was just down to race. I think race could play a factor - an unconscious bias in general to due with sexism, race, a number of factors.'

Sherif did say, however, that he believes he received a harsher sentence for being male.

Quizzed whether Molly-Mae would have been sent home had the roles been reversed, he said: 'Almost definitely I can say, 100 percent that she wouldn't have.

'Whether she would have been called up [for a telling off], I can't say, but especially the way it happened, I don't think it would have [been the same]'.

Sherif later reflected on whether there is a wider diversity issue in reality TV in light of Love Island viewers claiming contestants like himself and Yewande don't get a fair deal on the show.

He said: 'I think there's a diversity issue, but I think it stems from society in general. 

'All of the contestants that they deem fit for the show, of my colour or different ethnicities to Caucasian, it's difficult because they usually end up having a type that doesn't necessarily like them... in most cases we've seen on the show. That stems from outside of the show, so it's a bit of a tricky situation.'

The sous chef spent just nine days in the Majorcan hideaway, where he was paired with sultry pharmacist Anna Vakili before his abrupt, unexplained exit on June 10.

Since his return to England, Sherif, has admitted he was told to leave following a play-fight that went wrong.

Sherif also believes Molly and her fellow Islanders were intentionally kept in the dark about his departure for fear them being told would affect behavioral consistency in the villa. 

Love Island continues on Thursday June 19, 1TV2 at at 9pm.