Love Island star Brad McClelland has been estranged from his dad his whole life.
We can reveal the hunk, 26, has only seen him once and they barely know each other.
Opening up about his secret heartache, Brad said: “I’ve had 26 years of my life without my real dad being in it. I’ve met him once. I don’t know what he’s like as a person or anything.
“I don’t even know if he’s seen that I’m doing Love Island.”
Northumberland-born Brad thinks his appearance on the hit ITV series could spark a long-awaited reunion.
And if his dad gets in touch when he leaves the TV villa, he is ready to start building a relationship with him for the first time.
He said: “I haven’t got a clue if my dad will want to get in touch when I leave the show. But if he wanted to get in touch, then I wouldn’t have a problem with it.
“At the end of the day, he’s my real dad so he’s connected to us in some sort of way. I’d give him the time of day. Obviously there would be a lot of questions.”
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Brad is also distant from his mum.
They speak regularly but he didn’t tell her he had signed up for Love Island.
He said: “I’m not really close to my mum. She lives a 40-minute drive away from me and she comes to visit now and again.
“I didn’t tell her I was doing Love Island because she’s got a big mouth. She is one of those people who is far too excitable.
“She wants to basically show her son off. So she’d use this to say, ‘That’s mine!’”
Brad was brought up by his gran Joyce and he still lives with her.
And they have such a strong bond he felt able to tell her about the show before he jetted out.
He said: “I told my nana it was a secret. My last words to her were, ‘Keep it quiet, don’t tell anyone’.”
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