NOT every Love Island star leaves the villa having found their happily-ever-after… but it’s not all doom and gloom.
While fairytale pairings like Alex and Olivia Bowen, Jess Shears and Dom Lever and Camilla Thurlow and Jamie Jewitt all departed together, other contestants coupled up way after their series ended.
In February Casa Amor bombshell Lydia Karakyriakou, who briefly turned finalist Tom Clare’s head, revealed Casa boy Kain Reed slid into her DMs.
She said on the Love Island: The Morning After podcast: “He’s already asking basically for a date, he’s on his way back to Newcastle and it would be nice to maybe arrange and meet up at some point.”
And last night dumped Islander Claudia Fogarty cosied up to Keanan Brand, fuelling speculation they could be more than friends as she captioned a snap of them together “Tonight’s date” alongside a heart emoji.
Here, we look at the other former stars who got close in the outside world – including the happy couple who are now even engaged.
Luke Mabbott and Lucie Donlan
Despite not appearing on the same series, Luke and Lucie found love on the outside world and have been officially dating since July 2020.
Lucie, 25, appeared on the fifth season of the show and briefly dated Joe Garratt after leaving, however they split just four months later.
Luke, 27, was a contestant in 2020 – the first winter edition of the show.
He made it to the final with flame Demi Jones, but finished in third place behind winners Finley Tapp and Paige Turley. The pair also split shortly after.
Lucie and Luke regularly flaunt their happy life together, sharing loved-up snaps on Instagram.
The pair have adopted a rescue dog and recently got engaged after 17 months together while watching the Northern Lights.
Maura Higgins and Chris Taylor
Irish bombshell Maura met Chris on the fifth series of Love Island and quickly became close friends, but were never romantically involved.
Maura, 32, was coupled up ballroom dancer Curtis Pritchard, and they finished in fourth place – but split seven months following rumours he’d cheated.
Meanwhile Chris, 28, was dumped alongside Harley Brash, with whom he enjoyed a short-lived romance.
He and Maura kept the fact they were dating a secret, denying rumours over the course of the summer, before becoming Instagram official in November 2020.
Chris captioned the post: “Turns out I fell in love with my best mate.”
Unfortunately, after six months together, Maura announced they had split, writing: “There is no wrongdoing on either side… We still love, care & respect each other deeply. From the minute we met each other we’ve been very close friends and that will never change.”
Wes Nelson and Arabella Chi
Series four finalist Wes, 24, and model Arabella dated for nine months after appearing on separate series of Love Island.
Wes finished the show with Megan Barton-Hanson and they moved in together straight away, but had a very public breakup in 2019 after just six months.
Arabella, 31, was brutally dumped from series five after just one week, having briefly coupled up with Danny Williams.
She and Wes connected soon after and moved in together after just a few months – but sadly, their relationship was not meant to be.
They split after it was reported they had “grown apart” and become more aware of their six-year age gap.
Rebecca Gormley and Biggs Chris
Newcastle lass Rebecca, 24, and Biggs, 30, met on the winter Love Island series and despite not coupling up on the show, they spent over a year together after reuniting once it had finished.
The two went from strength to strength on the outside world, moving in together with their families during lockdown to ensure their relationship would last.
But they hit the rocks after 19 months as they rowed over lifestyle choices and plans for the future.
Biggs claimed: “Rebecca’s more of a party girl, but I want a family and business and just to work, work, work.”
Rebecca assured fans that they were still friends and that the breakup was the “best thing for them both”.
Kaz Crossley and Theo Campbell
Love Island 2018 finalist Kaz unpredictably fell for Theo Campbell a year after leaving the villa.
Kaz, 28, was coupled up with Josh Denzel on the show and they finished in third place, but their romance fizzled out after six months.
Theo, 31, only spent nine days in the villa in 2017, but his time goes down in the Love Island Hall of Fame after he was famously branded a “gigantic b*****d” by Jonny Mitchell when he nicked Tyla Carr in a recoupling.
Theo and Kaz sparked dating rumours after they were spotted getting cosy in Bali together, and quickly confirmed their romance on Instagram.
A freak accident put their relationship to the test in the summer of 2019, when Theo was left needing emergency eye surgery.
A champagne bottle was popped close to his face, splitting his eyeball ‘in half’.
The couple continued dating – but endured a messy public break-up in 2020, with Theo slamming Kaz for “selling the dream” before breaking things off.
Despite reuniting on the MTV show Ex on the Beach, the two stayed on separate paths – with Theo becoming a dad to a baby boy in 2021 with influencer Sapphire Yhnell.
Lillie Haynes and Jack Barlow
Lillie, 24, and Jack, 27, both appeared on series seven of Love Island as hot Casa Amor bombshells, ready to shake up the villa, with Lillie best known for briefly turning Liam Reardon’s head.
Lillie and Jack found a connection shortly after their time on the show came to an end.
They were spotted later that month hand-in-hand on a night out in Manchester, with sources at the time saying that they “fancied the pants off each other”.
Unfortunately it was reported that the long distance between them and their busy schedules meant they called time on their strained relationship.
Max Morley and Laura Anderson
Scottish beauty Laura, 33, didn’t have much luck with men in the villa, but later found a connection with season one winner Max.
The pair announced that they were dating back in October 2018, after Laura uploaded a passionate video to her Instagram story of them snogging in the back of a taxi.
Laura and Max, 30, had an on off relationship, however, and officially went their separate ways in July 2019 – even though they had been planning to move in together.
Laura is currently expecting her first child with ex Gary Lucy.