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Influencer couple who splashed themselves with holy water in Bali face backlash

‘We didn’t know it was holy water’

Cathy Adams
Wednesday 14 August 2019 16:35 BST
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Influencers face backlash for splashing each other with holy water

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An Instagram influencer couple are facing an online backlash for splashing each other with holy water at a temple in Bali.

Sabina Dolezalova and Zdenek Slouka, from the Czech Republic, have a combined Instagram following of more than 80,000 followers.

On a recent visit to Bali’s Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, the couple were filmed splashing themselves with holy water from a temple.

The island of Bali, in Indonesia, is popular with tourists from around the world. It also has many sacred Hindu sites.

In the now-deleted video, Mr Slouka is shown lifting the skirt of Ms Dolezalova and splashing water on her bottom.

Local Balinese politician Arya Wedakarna shared the original video on his Instagram page, where it attracted hundreds of comments.

In a second video, the Czech couple are shown apologising for their actions, adding that they were unaware the water in the temple was holy.

It’s not the first time that influencers have found themselves in hot water while abroad.

In April, a travel influencer couple spoke out after a picture of them in Bali was branded “dangerous” and “stupid” by online commenters.

Kelly Castille and Kody Workman, who created Instagram account Positravelty, posted the offending shot that shows Workman holding Castille over the side of an infinity pool in Ubud while they kiss, with a sheer drop below.

In May, an influencer couple became the second pair in a week to face criticism after posting a “stupid” picture of them leaning out of a moving train to share a kiss.

Belgian travel Instagrammers Camille and Jean, better known as “@backpackdiariez”, uploaded the photo to mixed opinions.

The snap shows them leaning far out of a train door in Sri Lanka, and is accompanied with a caption in which they explain that the image sums them up as a couple because they have “blind trust in each other” and are “living on the edge (sometimes a bit too much)”.

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