He was brought in to ruffle some feathers and bring some much needed drama to the villa.

But despite Joey Essex insisting he wasn’t given any special treatment during his time on Love Island because he was already a celebrity, it can now be revealed that he did.

MailOnline understands that Joey, who was introduced as a ‘bombshell’ in the first week of the show, was ‘promised the final’ before entering the show and was furious when he was sent packing on Sunday night’s show with his partner Jessy Potts after the ex-Islanders voted them the least compatible couple.

And, sources close to the show say that the former TOWIE star was given ‘two to three hours’ of time a day out of the villa which he spent with producers and away from the cameras.

Insiders also say Joey was given flowers by the production team to hand to the eventual winner Mimii Ngulube after he was slammed for his behaviour towards her and her partner Josh Oyinsan.

In an episode last week, Joey was seen giving Mimii a bunch of flowers to apologise to her after previously arguing with her during a challenge.

However, ITV have now said: ‘Joey has not been treated differently at all at any point of the process both pre, during and post featuring on the series. We completely refute any claim as all islanders are treated equally.’

Upon entering the villa, ITV producers previously stated: ‘Joey is being treated like any other Love Island contestant, he’s playing by the same rules and won’t be given any preferential treatment.

‘He hasn’t been paid an appearance fee or any money at all for signing up to the show, not a penny.’

Just this week it was reported Joey, who is already worth £8 million, is set to earn a whopping £250,000 with a club tour following his Love Island dumping.

It came after it was revealed that he wasn’t being paid any more to be on the show than the other contestants – which is around £375 a week.

During the final episode on Monday night fans claimed they saw him looking ‘furious’ and ‘bitter’.

Viewers admitted they couldn’t help but notice his unimpressed facial expressions as the cameras paused on him during the show.

They speculated that he wasn’t happy he didn’t make it to the final with Jessy, 25, after leaving the villa just one day prior.

Whilst on the show Joey has been called ‘arrogant’, ‘problematic’ and ’embarrassing’.

One episode even received 120 Ofcom complaints because of his behaviour towards former contestant Samantha Kenny.

As the first celebrity to go on the show, bosses took ‘every precaution ‘to keep Mr Essex’s entry into the villa a secret.

While the rest of the singletons were flown out to Mallorca, the reality star was forced to travel by ferry to keep his appearance under wraps.

This was the first time Love Island bosses have landed a celebrity in their original lineup, with Mr Essex known to viewers as one of TOWIE’s original stars, followed by stints on Dancing On Ice, Celebs Go Dating and I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!

ITV have been contacted for comment.

Mimii Ngulube and Josh Oyinsan won Love Island series 11.

Host Maya Jama announced that the couple had received the highest percentage of the public vote and will take home the £50,000 cash prize.

Mimii, 24, and Josh, 29, have made Love Island history as the first black couple to win the show since the rebooted version of the series began in 2015.

The couple were in the final with Nicole Samuel and Ciaran Davies, Matilda Draper and Sean Stone and Jessica Spencer and Ayo Odukoya.

Jessica and Ayo finished in fourth place while Matilda and Sean were awarded third position in the reality show competition.

Nicole and Ciaran were the runners up in the final, as viewers ultimately voted to crown Mimii and Josh as their winners.