Zara Holland, a model who starred on Love Island in 2016 and was crowned Miss Great Britain in 2015, was detained in Barbados for allegedly trying to board a plane out of the country with her boyfriend, Elliot Love, after he tested positive for the coronavirus. Holland, 25, and Love allegedly tried to avoid being taken to a quarantine facility. Holland was later released from custody and could face up to a year in jail and an ยฃ18,000 fine. She is scheduled to appear in a Barbados court on Wednesday, reports The Sun.
Holland and Love were tested when they arrived in Barbados and were told to self-quarantine until they got the results. Love tested positive, so they were given red wristbands and told to quarantine at a military base where COVID-positive patients are staying, reports TMZ. The couple allegedly cut off their wristbands and went to the airport to catch a flight back to the U.K. Someone found the wristbands and called the police. Love and Holland were stopped at the airport and taken into custody.
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Authorities took them both to a local hospital. Law enforcement sources told TMZ Holland was released from custody and allowed to go back to her hotel before her court appearance. Love remains at the hospital.
On Saturday, Barbados Today published an apology from Holland, who called the situation a “massive mix-up an understanding.” Holland is “currently working closely with the local authorities to rectify any issues on my part” and plans to release an update at a later date. “I have been a guest of this lovely island in excess of 20 years and would never do anything to jeopardize an entire nation that I have nothing but love and respect for and which has treated me as a family,” Holland’s statement read.
Holland has been at the center of controversy before. In 2016, she lost the Miss Great Britain title. An episode of Love Island showed Holland getting intimate with another cast member, and they both admitted to having sex in the next episode. “We wholly understand that everyone makes mistakes, but Zara, as an ambassador for Miss Great Britain, simply did not uphold the responsibility expected of the title,” the Miss Great Britain organization said at the time. The move was widely criticized at the time, with some accusing the organization of punishing a woman just for having sex.
