Love Island star Maura Higgins isn't one to withhold vital information, including about shenanigans from the Spanish villa that she may have caused.
The reality star has fast become a fan favourite due to her frank and honest nature, though she has now admitted to skirting around the rules to get some extra wine. Mad respect.
"I should never tell, but I'm gonna…" she revealed during an Instagram Q&A after an appearance on The Late Late Show last Friday night.
"Some nights you get one glass of wine, some nights you get two, you either get a choice of beer or wine, I always choose wine," Maura explained.
"One night I went into the larder where the drinks get prepared and there's like a water dispenser there. I went in before everyone else and I downed everyone's wine and I filled it up with water.
"And I got in really big trouble. The whole island got punished the following night because I got really drunk. I shouldn't have probably said that. I'll get in big trouble now!"
We can relate to the struggle of craving some vino, especially if we were on a stressful reality show fighting off other gals to find love.
The Longford native has also divulged on other behind-the-scenes secrets from the reality show, admitting that some scenes were reshot.
"Yeah, we did re-shoot," Maura said. "Just say, for instance, if a text came through and you weren't loud enough or if you stumbled on your words, you'd have to re-take obviously."
Love Island couples are having a bumpy ride over the last few days, between Anton Danyluk and Belle Hassan's break-up and Greg O'Shea ruthlessly dumping Amber Gill by text (rude).
Their relationships only lasted five weeks, despite Amber and Greg beating Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury to win the ITV2 show.
Now there's a possible cheating scandal on our hands *clutches rosary beads*. India Reynolds has been forced to deny cheating on national treasure, Ovie Soko.
28-year-old India has been accused of cheating on her 28-year-old basketballer beau with footballer Kieran Gibbs after allegations of them kissing at his birthday party emerged.
According to MailOnline, model India “grabbed and kissed” Kieran at the party, with a source claiming that she was overheard saying: “If Kieran made it official with me, I would dump Ovie.”
India has denied the claims with a representative for the third place contestant adding that the allegations are “absolutely not true. They've been friends for years”.
“She attended his birthday party with her family. She's in love with Ovie and would never hurt him. She's shocked and hurt at the claims,” a source told the publication
India and Ovie came third in this year’s Love Island, and seem to be going strong. The pair have posted their fair share of loved up snaps since the show's final six weeks ago.
Ovie sang India's praises during a recent appearance on This Morning; “I can’t say love. I think love is a thing that takes time to develop."
“But you know, we’re in a good place and we’re just going to put one foot in front of the other," he added.
"We’ve spent quite a lot of time together since leaving the show. She’s back in Reading at the moment handling some stuff, but we’ve been enjoying it, taking it in our stride.”
Time will tell whether Ovie will address the cheating rumours, but he's a chill man. We reckon he'll ignore the hype and focus on treating his lady like the gent he is.
Love Island star Anna Vakili has defended her sister after her ex Jordan Hames implied that Mandi was desperate to become famous.
The 29-year-old pharmacist jumped to her sister's defence after the model slated her for being fame-hungry.
"Facts," he commented below a meme making fun at Mandi's frequent nights out with Anna, winner Amber Gill and her fellow Love Island girls.
Image: Instagram/@anna_vakili
Anna slammed her ex in the comments section, writing below;
"We were always close and went everywhere together before and she's doing the exact same thing on the Instagram that she was doing before love island, how is that trying to be famous?
"Poor you, don't you have enough going on for you to sit and comment on my sister?" Mandi also referred to Jordan as "this big hater" before Anna blasted trolls in her Instagram stories.
"All this s**t about my sister being a 'clout chaser' or 'trying to be famous' is obviously from people that don't have a close relationship with their family or have family values," she wrote.
"Me and my sister have always been close and always went everywhere together from school, uni and work. So nothing has changed I just take her with me to events that are FULL of influencers with less followers than her," Anna continued.
"I am so lucky and blessed to have this relationship with my sister that even if I lasted a day in that villa or had nothing to my name, I have something money or fame can't buy and that's REAL LOVE and FAMILY around me. Keep hating you're the ones making her 'FAMOUS'."
Love Island winner Amber spends many of her nights out with Mandi, and has recently moved in with best friend Anna after Greg O'Shea dumped her by text five weeks after they won the show.
In response to a troll who claimed Anna and Mandi weren't letting Amber heal from her heartbreak, she wrote: "This woman is the best friend I could ever wish for she supports me 100 percent.
"She has made me feel so good over these past few days and these comments need to stop. I'm happy so why's everyone else so bothered. She's trying to make me happy not you," Amber added.
Tyson's appearance on Good Morning Britain has seemingly dashed these hopes, with the boxer saying; "‘They’ve been following me around for the last few months, for most of the comeback actually
"It’s an insight on Tyson Fury as a husband, as a father, as a son, as a boxer, and as an everyday person, a real behind-the-scenes show of my life," he continued.
"Tommy doesn’t make an appearance, he might, but Tommy’s got his own TV show going on I believe as well."
Tommy came in second on the ITV2 reality show with girlfriend Molly-Mae Hague, who has made the most money since leaving the show.
The pair have been enjoying their new-found fame and lucrative brand ambassador deals, recently jetting off to the US to attend PrettyLittleThing's fashion week show in New York.
Tommy recently went back to the gym where himself and Tyson train as boxers after his Love Island success, despite promoter Frank Warren confirming that Tommy will take a year out of boxing.
"He’s talking about taking a year out," Tommy's promoter Frank Warren told Metro.co.uk. "I’m fine with that. When he comes back, I’m really looking forward to that. He is going to be huge.
"The interest in him will be huge when he gets back in the ring, especially if he can keep up his profile. He’s only 20 years old. He’s been boxing his whole life, a year out won’t hurt him."
Tyson is preparing for his next fight on Saturday against Swede Otto Wallin at the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas, which Tommy may be supporting him at.
Amy Hart has shared her successful Love Island audition tape with her followers online, and it's…something.
The ex-air hostess surprised her fans by showing the reel which secured her spot on the ITV2 dating show on YouTube last night, which led to her coupling up with Curtis Pritchard before quitting the show.
The video shows Amy refer to herself as "the lovechild of Elton John and Gemma Collins", also describing herself as a third wheel and "the world's worst drunk texter" who is "too extra for my own good".
"I know I've got the hair, the teeth, the nails, the boobs but I'm not your run-of-the-mill Barbie girl," she added. "There's only one Ames."
The 26-year-old also mentions that all of her friends have "found their Mr Right and have their fairytale endings, and I think it's my time". She also describes her five years of pageant life.
Unfortunately, the show didn't lead to a fairytale ending for Amy, but she walked out with her head held high and earned thousands of fans for the value she had for her mental health.
Amy recently hit back at trolls who criticised her appearance online with an emotional Instagram message describing how upset her friends and family have been after reading vile comments.
She captioned the lengthy post; "To everyone who has taken time out of their day to point out my flaws – thank you. I know you probably think that the comments you make about my appearance don’t get read, well they do – and they hurt. Not just me, but my friends and family, too.
"I know it’s probably difficult to see me as a person when all you know about me is what you’ve seen on TV, online and when I pop up on your social media feed."
"To you, I’m probably just a picture or a video… but the reality is I’m just an ordinary girl from Worthing whose dreams are coming true," the reality star added.
"The vast majority of comments I receive are absolutely lovely – and I read them too…so thank you! I guess what I want to say is… just have a bit consideration when you’re leaving comments on people's posts – whether they have 1 follower or 1 million followers."
The star is taking action by heading into schools to speak about the impacts of trolling and online bullying, using her platform for good.
"To everyone who has taken time out of their day to point out my flaws – thank you," she said. "I have a mirror, I know what I look like – and I'm happy with it. But, like everyone, I have my insecurities."
YAS gal. Say what you want about Amy, but she stays true to herself 24 hours a day.
An ex-Love Island star was caught in possession of the drug ketamine and is now facing a potential jail sentence when she visits court next month.
Bethany Rodgers was a contestant on the ITV2 show back in 2015, and pleaded guilty to possessing 134mg of the Class B drug after she was caught with it last year.
A maximum sentence of five years in prison is carried by the offence, but Rodgers may escape the full sentence if she admitted possession.
Image: Instagram
Appearing at Bradford magistrates court, 23-year-old Bethany admitted possession but didn't enter a plea for another charge of allegedly using thousands of pounds of criminal cash to buy a car.
The Sun reports that the former reality star possibly used the money to purchase an Audi A3 and is alleged to have "acquired, used or had possession of criminal property, namely £16,500" to buy the vehicle.
Rodgers is due to appear at Bradford crown court next month and is currently on bail.
Image: Instagram
Bethany appeared for just one week on Love Island, having entered the villa alongside Max Morley, and quickly became involved in drama among the girls.
She failed to couple up with anyone and was dumped from the Island just days after her explosive arrival on the show, and hasn't been sighted much since.
Anton Danyluk and Belle Hassan have reportedly split just five weeks after leaving the Love Island villa, and now he's denying ever having been in a relationship with her. Oh dear…
The reality stars have parted ways after trying to make their romance work in real life, and failing. Pals have claimed that Belle was getting fed up with Anton's lack of attention towards her.
Belle has also seen photos of the Scottish gym owner cuddling up to bikini-clad models at parties in Ibiza.
"Belle has seen all the pictures and videos of Anton in Ibiza and now just wants out," a pal told the Sun. "She feels he's disrespecting their relationship and can't see him changing his ways."
They added that singer Craig David may have come between them, which is frankly GAS;
"His obsession with Craig David also made her feel awkward. He seemed to be more excited about reuniting with Craig than speaking to her."
Anton was forced to deny cheating on Belle last month after a video emerged of him kissing a brunette in a club, but the footage was filmed six years ago.
Anton had tried it on with Molly-Mae Hague, Anna Vakili and Lucie Donlan in the first couple of weeks of the show before getting with Belle.
Anton messed up numerous times after giving his number to a cashier, and later admitting that Anna was the best kisser in the villa.
Belle and Anton ended up in fifth place, narrowly missing out on making it to the final thanks to Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae Hague voting them out.
Anton revealed last month that he and Belle still hadn't had sex, insisting that they wanted to "take things slowly".
"We haven't done bits. When we've seen each other we've been tired and gone straight to bed," he told new! magazine."We're taking it slow, it's very PG."
He added: "Everyone's saying this 'making it official' as if we've been in a relationship for so long.
"I'm very much a realist. We've still got a bit of dating to do on the outside before we know if it's going to work. But we're both on the same page, which is important."
Anton also said that he has no intentions of leaving Scotland to be with Belle in London. "I won't be moving away, but with all the things that are going on I'm going to be up and down the country anyway."
The Scot is now denying ever having been in a serious relationship with Belle, which definitely won't go down well.
Love Island star Michael Griffiths has signed up for the Ex On The Beach celebrity special in America after failing to find love on the ITV2 reality show, The Sun reports.
The ex-firefighter ended up becoming the villa villain after dumping Amber Gill for Joanna Chimonides, only to stay in the villa without her when she was kicked out.
Joanna branded him 'a snake' but the pair have been spotted kissing after the show ended. They're maintaining that they're both single, however. Who knows what to believe?
Which one of his exes will appear on the show, though? We highly doubt it'll be 22-year-old Geordie Amber Gill, who is currently seeing her Love Island partner Greg O'Shea.
Michael will join a number of other former Love Island-ers on the new series, including Georgia Steel and Niall Aslam.
21-year-old Georgia and 26-year-old reality star Lateysha Grace are set to bring plenty of excitement (and drama) to the show, but Michael has the major villain label when it comes to dating.
None other than the Queen of Longford, Maura Higgins, will join Ryan Tubridy on the new season of The Late Late Show this week.
The Love Island star is set to join iconic singer Sinead O'Connor and hilarious comedian and actress Aisling Bea on the couch.
Ryan Tubridy revealed the opening episode features “a selection of people representing Ireland", telling RTE Guide;
“Sinead O’Connor, an icon; Aisling Bea, a new superstar knocking them out in the UK; and Maura Higgins from Love Island, a pop-culture phenomenon. It’s running the gamut, and that’s where The Late Late excels.”
"We’re also hoping to make a nod towards all the people who’ve served this country in uniform, which needs to be done. Just to say thanks. And where else can you do that, but on the Late Late."
Tubs has previously hinted that the Longford lass will join him on the sofa, saying to the Irish Mirror last week;
“I was watching it (Love Island) over the shoulders of youngsters no but like my feeling about that is even if you didn’t watch it, you know that even when it was going down the toilet and people were saying it was boring and it was the worst series of it, what did it take?"
“It took an Irish woman from Longford to change it all. She goes on and suddenly the show comes alive. And not even just that it was also won by an Irish man.”
This year will mark Tubridy's 11th year as host of the show;
“As of midnight when we get to the end of the show on September 6, I’ll be the second longest-serving host of the Late Late Show which is a strange mantel but a very big honour in my life.”
Maura is currently taking a break from her appearances at events after admitting via her Instagram stories that she's completely "shattered" and "burnt out".
Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae Hague were the runners up of this years' Love Island series, but ex Islander Elma Pazar has given her opinion on why they didn't take the crown.
20-year-old boxer Tommy and 19-year-old influencer Molly were beaten to the £50,000 prize by Amber Gill and Greg O’Shea, and Elma explained that the runners up were dull to watch.
The 26-year-old eyelash technician said; "For me personally, Amber and Greg deserved to win. I'm really happy for Tommy and Molly that they came second, they were a solid couple all the way through."
Amber and Greg found each other after Michael Griffiths broke the 21-year-old Geordie girl's heart in shockingly douchebag fashion.
Essex gal Elma added; "But in a sense, I think because they were just a guaranteed couple, they didn’t bring much drama after a while.
"It’s nice for them, obviously you don’t want to have drama when you’re in a relationship."
Elma left the villa single, but dispelled claims that viewers assumed that Molly-Mae was faking her love for Tommy through non-existent tears.
Speaking to Daily Star Online, she said: "I know Molly got a lot of stick about not being genuine and stuff but I do honestly think that Amber and Greg were the rightful winners, especially Amber."
Molly recently hit out at co-star Belle Hassan after she accused Molly of being 'two faced' in the final week.
She said her comments were a "shame" insisting: "There were no tactics used at all. Absolutely none. People can say what they want."
Herself and boyfriend Tommy Fury voted to send Belle and Anton Danyluk home, leading to them being dumped from the show by the public before the final.
21-year-old Belle said: "I think Molly has too many opinions sometimes. I really get on with Molly, but she can be a little bit two faced."
Tommy defended their join decision, and said: "We put Anton and Belle in the bottom three, but it was the public who voted Anton and Belle out. It wasn't us. It was the voters who did that."
Fair point. Belle saying the move was 'tactical' doesn't mean much, considering the entire show is a competition for a huge cash prize…
Love Island's Ovie Soko has given an adorable response to the love he's received since participating in the reality TV show.
The 28-year-old basketball player earned third place in this year's show, alongside India Reynolds, but won the fans' affection with his chilled out vibes, hilarious egg-making antics and fashion sense.
Amber Gill and Greg O'Shea were crowned king and queen of 2019's series, but Ovie Soko is possibly the true winner.
Ovie joined the series during Casa Amor, and immediately showed interest in Anna Vakili, who brought him back to the main villa after a recoupling.
The fans fell in love with his demeanor, good vibes and hilarious catchphrases, not to mention those stylin' bucket hats.
When asked by MailOnline how he felt about garnering an onslaught of fan affection, Ovie responded in the most Ovie way possible.
On a serious note it’s been amazing watching Ovie on TV. Majority of black men I know are like Ovie but are never represented like that on telly. He’s shown the UK that black men can be loveable gentle giants and not just violent and angry. #LoveIslandpic.twitter.com/HELHDWGKhI
"I don’t really get it," he said, before admitting: "I haven’t seen anything yet. We’re just closing up over here, I am overwhelmed by the love."
Asked about where his chilled-out nature comes from, Ovie commented,
"When I was in primary school I had a lot of energy and been bouncing off the walls but I’m just a chilled person really. I just don’t get ahead of myself. We’re in a huge villa in the sun in Spain, you don’t have much to worry about."
Ovie revealed that his notorious catchphrase comes from watching iconic 1990s American movies;
"Message?! Oh wow!" he continued. "I used to watch a lot of comedy when I was younger, I watched Don’t Be A Menace and it stuck into my head when the phone went off."
Thank God for Ovie, who was hugely important for black representation this year and showed that male and female friendships should be valued as much as romance.
Maura's mum wants to grab him for herself, so he may need security coming home to Heathrow airport. Every age group and gender want some more Ovie in their lives, and brands are already flocking to nab him for deals.
There'll undoubtedly be a massive crowd waiting to catch a glimpse of their hero, but we're just overjoyed that he made it out of Casa Amor onto our screens. For Amber's sake too, seeing as he became her 'guardian angel.'
Eyal Booker was catapulted into fame last year after taking part in the phenomenon that is Love Island, the ITV2 reality show that's become beloved all over the world.
The 23-year-old appeared on Celebs Go Dating after his stint in the Spanish villa, and definitely knows his stuff when it comes to reality TV romance.
We caught up with the model and TV star at the launch of a massively-exciting essence lip collection. Their Lip Saviours range features 52 fabulous products including lipsticks, lipglosses, lipliners and liquid lipsticks.
Eyal Booker at the essence Lip Saviours launch in Dublin
Oh, did we mention that they're all under €4? essence have also created the ultimate lip look book to offer you dozens of options to create your signature look.
essence also prides itself on it's cruelty-free status, so you can mix and match to find your glamorous, natural, vibrant, glossy, understated or matte lip looks without worrying about animal testing.
Eyal Booker is representing the ground-breaking beauty brand, which sponsors both Love Island on Virgin Media player as well as the biggest pageant in the country; Miss Ireland 2019.
Of course, we simply had to ask him his opinions on our Irish exports, namely Longford lass Maura Higgins.
“I love the Irish contestants, I love Maura. I just loved her from the start. I think that the way she’s entered the villa, the way that she’s held herself, the things she comes out with; I think she’s a powerful, independent woman who’s proud of who she is and stands up for what she believes in and says what she wants. I think that that’s really inspiring for young women out there, and she’s a good influence and good person to have within the public eye and society”.
“She’s going to have a good career. At first, it took a little time to get used to her but now we can’t get enough of her. She’s contagious and just says it how it is. That goes a long way in this show.”
The latest controversy to shake the villa is, of course, the meltdown between Anna Vakili and Jordan Hames.
The model asked Anna to be his girlfriend only days ago, yet pulled India Reynolds aside for a chat (on Curtis' advice) to confess his feelings for her, while Anna was only metres away.
What does Eyal think was going through his head? The pair were dumped from the villa last night, but were they authentic?
“I don’t know where that’s come from (Jordan’s feelings for India), I don’t know what Jordan was thinking. They’ve screwed each other over within the process, you know when Anna left him for Ovie and then came back to him and now Jordan’s about to do the same. As much as they’re trying to make us believe their relationship, I don’t buy the reasons that they’re in the villa. I just think they want to be genuine but they’re actually just not that into each other.”
ITV bosses have faced numerous accusations that the reality show is a 'fix', with claims made against the honesty of each character.
In Eyal's time in the villa, he denies that the show every forced anyone into a certain narrative of hero or villain, womaniser or gentleman;
“They don’t try and create something that’s not there. They highlight some things over others, in terms of the edit. I wasn’t just this spiritual, tree-hugging guy but that’s a lot of what I was made out to be. You can’t all be the same, and they edit everyone a different way. There’s no one there saying ‘You should do this’ or ‘You should do that’.”
Other criticisms made against the show involve the noteworthy emphasis on physique and appearance. Does Eyal think the show has contributed to the continued popularity of beauty pageants like Miss Ireland?
“Pageants have always been popular and I think with social media and the world that we live in, they can grow even quicker and bigger because there’s accessibility to a wider audience. I think Love Island showcases the fact that it can reach such a vast and big audience. It encourages other people to get on social media and get on platforms and use that platform in order to further themselves."
Amy Hart recently posted an Instagram snap of a charity who she works with closely, but trolls commented that the image was 'boring'. Social media presence is a huge part of Love Island stars' careers when many of them leave, but do they control who they work with and their brand?
According to Eyal; “We have complete control. When I came out of the villa, I got a management because I needed to manage everything that was going on. They try and guide you in a direction that they see fit for you but also a direction that you see fit for yourself. It’s just a discussion that you have. We have incredible platforms when we come out, and I think charity is a big thing on people’s minds and people want to use their platform for good as well. It’s something that a lot of people go into and become ambassadors for because, as much as you’re reaping the rewards of having such a huge platform and getting all of these brand deals, you also want to give back to people in less fortunate positions."
He continued; "Charity is a nice thing to do, I’ve always worked with them but now I’m doing on them on a bigger scale because I’ve got a bigger audience.”
“I work with World Vision, very closely. I’m an ambassador for them, and I also work with the RSPCA and Dog’s Trust. I’ve always loved animals, all animals, and animal welfare. World Vision is to do with young children and their families in areas of conflict or disaster, and it’s about sending emergency response and helping them further themselves. Children are the future, they’re the generation who are going to shape our world and who are going to be here when we’re not. Providing them with the best possible tools in order to have the best and brightest future is essential for our world to get better and better.”
Another problematic aspect of the show, arguably, is their continuous sponsorship from fast fashion brands. The stars wear different ensembles every day in the villa, with companies like I Saw It First working with the reality show.
I love Love Island, I just do, (call me a sucker for a fairytale in a thong) but I hate its sponsorship & promotion of fast, throwaway fashion – which surely can’t have been made by people paid enough or treated… https://t.co/R1zEKyk8w8
Once the Islanders leave the villa, many of them will work with branding constantly, showing a materialistic lifestyle via their social platforms. Does Eyal see an issue with this side of Love Island life?
“It’s an interesting one, I actually hadn’t heard that until now. I think there’s two sides to this story. I think that everyone’s individual style and fashion showcases the fact that you can self-express and be who you want to be, and dress and wear what you want to wear. I think fast fashion is affordable for people, but at the same time, fast fashion is one of the biggest polluters of our environment. It contributes to huge amount of emissions and pollution and adds to climate change."
He continues; "It’s one of those things where we want instant gratification and we want to be able to purchase all the things that we want for a low price but we don’t really see at which cost we’re getting them at and how detrimental it is to our environment. I’m in a Catch 22 about that one, I work with some fast fashion brands and I would like to think I’m an environmentalist and I care about our planet. I think there’s a balance that we can find within it. Although fast fashion, although it’s been around for a while, it has only just come into play and become as popular as it is. It’s about us starting to regulate that and coming on board with how we as a society consume things and over-consume things.”
“Through omnipresent product placements and advertising, #LoveIsland has turned into fast fashion’s biggest advocate.” https://t.co/5I3HBXVln7
Does he do his homework on the brands that he associates with, when it comes to ethics?
“essence is cruelty-free which is part of the reason I’m at this event. I couldn’t be an ambassador for, let’s say the RSPCA who campaign against animal testing, and then a brand who test on animals. We’re only human and we make mistakes, we overlook things, but we try as hard as we can to highlight the things that align with me and then we go from there.”
The show is undeniably heteronormative, and excludes the majority of the population.
"The fact that it would be such a big deal is testament to the fact of how far we’ve got to go." https://t.co/oV0USsKTYs
With Love Island spreading Stateside and now to South Africa for the winter edition, does he think these expansion moves could mean an LGBTQ+ version could be in the pipeline soon?
“I think it would take some time for people to catch on to. I’ve grown up within an entertainment, performing world, I don’t differentiate between anyone; your sex, the colour of your skin, your appearance; whatever you are, you are. But I think we, as a society, whether we like it or not are still evolving and still changing and becoming aware of the LGBTQ+ community. I think as much as I’d like to say that there’d be no stigmas attached and no judgements, if we see what judgements come from Love Island and how much stick people can get as heterosexuals, then we have to be realistic at what the response would be. I think that that’s the way it’s going to go, and eventually there will be all kinds of shows for all kinds of people, but we have to ease it in slowly.”
