A new couple will be crowned King and Queen of the Love Island villa, but as the final looms ahead, what happened to Love Island 2023 winners, Jess Harding and Sammy Root?
They were once King and Queen of the Love Island villa but months after their victory, Sammy Root and Jess Harding revealed they'd called it quits in a shocking admission.
With Joey Essex finally booted out of the villa after weeks of faux-pas and scandals, ITV2 viewers will be eagerly tuning into the long-awaited Love Island final this Monday, July 29, as one couple will end their summer of love with a partner in life and a whopping £50k.
All bets are on for this new final but in 2023, Aesthetics Practitioner Jess and project manager Sammy, both 23, beat the odds by winning the Love Island final.
Jess, a former student at the King Edward VII Academy, was the first to make her appearance in the 10th series of the popular reality TV show.
The blonde beauty was once a dance champion and even performed at St George’s Guildhall, before moving to London and opening her own beauty salon, Candy Aesthetics.
Before making her first steps in the Mallorca villa, she described herself as having "quite a big personality" and a "heart of gold" and warned: "I can stand up for myself if I need to."
Sammy, on the other hand, entered the villa on Day 4 of Love Island and caused a storm among islanders when he invited Jess, Molly Marsh and Ella Thomas on dates.
Once they were coupled up, however, Sammy and Jess had to jump through their first hurdle in the form of Mal Nicol, who stole Sammy during another shocking recoupling.
The lad's wandering eye also led him to kiss Gabby Jeffery and Amber Wise, the latter of which became his new partner in the villa.
When the countdown drew to a close, Sammy and Jess made things official and went on to win the show on July 31, 2023, only for a close source to announce just two months later that they had called it quits, much like many others before them.
"Jess and Sammy have called it quits. Things have changed since leaving the villa and Jess has realised they're better off as friends", the insider told the Mail Online in October, 2023.
Faced with the growing rumour, Sammy responded with a statement shared on Instagram, admitting he'd only found about the split himself through the media.
"I thought I would come online to address today's news about me and Jess. Yes we had a private conversation regarding our relationship but this was left up in the air as Jess is still away and we haven't had a chance to speak in person. For me to then see today via the media that we had officially broken up came as a total shock", he wrote on his story.
"To be totally clear - I at least wanted a face to face conversation to see if our relationship could be saved and felt this would be the respectful way forward. We had the most incredible experience winning Love Island and I genuinely saw a future with Jess."
He then added: "I was committed and respectful to our relationship. Unfortunately things don't always work out the way you'd hoped. Despite how this has all played out today, I think Jess is an amazing woman and genuinely wish her all the best."
Jess herself later broke her silence during a Q&A session on her own Instagram account when one asked her how she was feeling after the breakup. "It's been over a week now since we split, so I'm getting there. We shared a once in a lifetime experience together so of course I'm sad", she'd said, shutting down another curious follower moments later.
"I really don't want to go into detail by doing a big statement but we're just very different and behave differently and that's it", she'd argued at the time.
Several contestants have been tipped to win the eleventh series of Love Island this Monday, with one relationship expert wading into the speculation herself.
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