Brett Staniland: Love Island contestant's twin calls out trolls

Scott Staniland and his brother Brett are from Derbyshire

The identical twin brother of Love Island contestant Brett Staniland has spoken out against online trolling after receiving "relentless" comments.

Scott Staniland, who is managing his brother's social media accounts, says comments about physical appearance are particularly upsetting.

He said his brother's looks have even been compared to "really bad people" who have committed serious crimes.

Scott, from Derbyshire, has now asked a friend to help manage the accounts.

'Lack of consequence'

"I'm his identical twin so anything I see about appearance, or what he's like, I take it so personally," he said.

"It's relentless as well, and it's a really weird space online, this lack of consequence for saying something out in the open online when you're at home with your piece of plastic in your hand."

Brett Staniland is a 27-year-old PhD student and model

Brett entered the Love Island villa during Tuesday night's episode of the ITV2 dating show.

The 27-year-old is a PhD student and model from Draycott in Derbyshire.

• Latest news and stories from the East Midlands

"Honestly after a day, I've not told many people this, I handed the login over to a friend who's used to managing online communities," said Scott, who models with his brother.

"So I was really grateful for that, because I was up until four o'clock on the first night reading every quoted tweet, every reply, every comment, DM, all of that stuff.

"They are talking about really bad people, and people that have committed serious crimes that he looks like apparently.

"There's just no boundaries. I had people sending voice notes and trying to call me on Instagram and FaceTime me."

However, he said many of the messages had also been positive.

"There's been some really nice messages from people that have also been on the show," he said.

"I don't mind a bit of banter... have a laugh but know when to stop, know where the line is."

Brett and Scott are mirror twins, so Brett is left-handed and right-footed, while Scott is left-footed and right-handed

The mental health of Love Island contestants has come under increased scrutiny in recent years, following the suicides of former contestants Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis.

However, ITV has announced that contestants are to be taught how to handle the "potential negativity" of social media as part of the show's duty of care protocols.

Scott said the show appeared to have gone "above and beyond" regarding his brother's mental health.

"Brett had a lot of phone calls with psychiatrists, psychologists, and they called some of our family just to check in and have a chat about what his life has been like and any stresses and stuff like that," he said.

"But he's got a good, solid group of friends that he can definitely lean on for support, and obviously I'm here to take some of that burden too."