Love Island contestant criticised for using the N-word in video

Zara McDermott apologises and insists she is not an 'ignorant' person

McDermott is a former government advisor (PA)

Love Island contestant Zara McDermott has apologised after using the N-word in an Instagram video.

The 21-year-old former government adviser was criticised after her boyfriend Adam Collard shared a video of her singing along to Chris Brown song "Look At Me Now".

Collard, 22, can be heard cheering McDermott on as she is driving and rapping at the same time.

The Newcastle native captioned the clip, which has since been deleted: “Baaaaaaarrrrrss.”

While RnB star Brown, is black, McDermott is white and she was criticised for her use of the offensive term.

“Zara being a government adviser whilst comfortably saying the n-word multiple times on Adam’s insta story, then replying by saying ‘it’s just a song’ instead of apologising, is so f***** up I don’t even know where to begin,” said one Twitter user.

“No one who uses this word should be working for the government,” added another, while a third tweeted: "She knew what she was doing. She knew she was being recorded and she didn’t care. She did it anyway, then laughed when a black woman called her out on it. She’s so grim. Hope Adam breaks her heart,"

McDermott initially responded to one critic by saying: “It’s a song omg”. She posted it next to crying emojis which are often used to denote laughter.

But she has now apologised for using the term and insisted she is not an “ignorant” person.

“I am sorry that I offended anyone,” she posted on Instagram. “My point is that it wasn’t aimed at anyone, it was lyrics to a song that had been in the public domain for many years, a song that many people know.”

“But I am genuinely sorry to have offended anyone, it just upsets me that people would ever think I was been intentionally nasty or ignorant because I wasn’t.”