TV star who slated woman for National Rail job tries to explain ‘classist’ outburst

The Love Island finale can be a fairly dull conclusion to the ITV2 dating show, but this year host Maya Jama aired out the dirty laundry from two months in caffeinated captivity.

Before Julia and Lorenzo were crowned the winners of the 2026 run, the finale adopted a reunion-style format, with Jama roving the axed Islanders for gossipy tidbits.

Among them were Priya and Aidan, who shocked the gathered fans of the show by confirming they have rekindled their rocky romance.

The business development manager, 25, was also asked about a comment she made on fellow bombshell Elicia’s job at the National Rail, which was accused of being ‘classist’ by ITV2 viewers at the time.

Priya received pushback from the Murphy brothers and viewers after saying Elicia should ‘go back’ to her job at National Rail, instead of talking about her on Aftersun.

Kavan responded: ‘There’s nothing wrong with working on the National Rail,’ while his partner Jasmine and fellow Islander Mica laughed at Priya’s comment.

RMT Union, which represents rail workers, reshared the video to their Instagram, followed by clips of workers on the train lines, ending with the message: ‘Rail workers and proud.’

Ticketing service Trainline similarly responded with a tongue-in-cheek TikTok clip, captioned, ‘Come for Elicia, come for us all’, showing a staffer holding up company merch.

Priya later apologised for her comment on Aftersun, saying it was ‘completely out of line’ and ‘catty’, noting emotions had become ‘heightened’ in the villa.

Jama addressed the controversy head-on during the finale, asking Priya if there was anything she wanted to say directly to Elicia, after which she directly apologised. 

‘It was obviously not meant to be a job-shaming comment,’ Priya explained. ‘At the end of the day, I was telling you, go back to your day job and kind of keep my name out of your mouth. 

‘That was where I was coming from. It has nothing to do with where you work. I sell eye drops for a living. You could have worked at Boots. You could have worked anywhere.’

She reiterated: ‘I was mainly just referencing, go back to your job and keep my name out of your mouth. That was kind of what I was saying,’ at which point Aidan felt the need to intervene and said: ‘Okay, Priya, okay darling, okay darling!’

In response, an ill Elicia said: ‘I feel like a few years back, I’d have probably reacted the same way, shouting and going about that.

‘So, I sort of understand the reaction. I’m proud of my job and I work my a*** off. There’s no hard feelings; we’ve swept everything under the rug. She’s an amazing person!’