AJ Pritchard has insisted that his mother wasn’t shaming Maura Higgins’ tattoo on ‘Love Island’.
Maura – who was coupled up with AJ’s brother Curtis Pritchard – met his parents during a special episode of the show and fans were annoyed to see his mum Debi pointing out Maura’s lipstick mark tattoo on her bum and repeatedly calling her the wrong name.
However, AJ explained to The Sun Online: "Because my mum’s a personal trainer she probably wanted to see how toned it was.
"I’ve got a tattoo, my mum’s fine with that. As long as it’s a nice one, she’s not bothered about it."
And he believes his mother is happy that professional dancer Curtis, 23, has coupled up with 28-year-old model Maura.
AJ – who praised his brother for not having sex on ‘Love Island’ – said: "I honestly do think everyone really likes her, as long as Curtis is happy, mum’s happy, that’s all a mother wants for her son.
"I think the great thing is their personalities together, she has her fiery side, but she’s also quite innocent. You can kind of see that self re-assurance and she needs someone to say no and Curtis is the one to do that.
"As much as they joke, its 95 per cent her way, five per cent his way. He will actually say something and that’s what a real relationship is and will work on the outside."
Meanwhile, Anna Vakili has admitted she "doesn’t really know" what Maura sees in Curtis.
The 29-year-old pharmacist praised her fellow contestant for not being "fake" in the ITV2 villa, but questioned why she is with the ballroom dancer.
Anna said: "I feel like Maura really likes him because she won’t fake anything but Curtis – I don’t really know what she sees in him."