Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu has drawn on her Love Island experience to give some expert advice to the new stars ahead of the summer series launch on Monday.
Television personality Ekin-Su, 28, won the series last summer with boyfriend Davide Sanclimenti, also 28, but she has warned newcomers to the programme that the road to love may be bumpy.
The actress admitted her arrival in the villa wasn’t too pleasant as she was very aware the other Islanders were reacting to her in a hostile manner.
She explained to new! magazine: ‘You don’t have to look like a model or Barbie to go on there, as I didn’t! When I looked in the mirror, I felt b**tchy vibes [around me].
‘I am not going to lie, and I was older [than the others] so I just said it straight. I am not just that girl who is nice to you. I wasn’t there to make friends, I wasn’t there to mess around.’
Wisdom: Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, 28, has drawn on her Love Island experience to give some expert advice to the new stars ahead of the summer series launch on Monday

Champs: Television personality Ekin-Su, 28, won the series last summer with boyfriend Davide Sanclimenti, also 28
She added: ‘I was just myself the whole time, the whole time. It felt very overwhelming to win, it was good to be accepted for who I actually was.’
Former Dancing On Ice contestant Ekin-Su told how she found the environment intense as she never had a moment to herself.
She said there were cameras and microphones all over the villa, including mics under the bed, while she was unable to go to the toilet properly for three weeks because she hated being watched.
However, she insisted staff were on hand to listen to her any time she needed, with the Islanders having daily check-ins to ensure their wellbeing.
Back in January, she said during a speech at the Cambridge Union: ‘It is a very mentally hard place to be in, you have to be strong to apply and I am not just saying that, you have to be.
‘You just have to be yourself, that is all I can say. If you don’t know who you are, then that is something else you have to work on.
Once Ekin-Su was settled in to the villa, she grew more comfortable with Italian businessman Davide, and the couple are still together today after winning their series.
She said: ‘Your best friend could be your partner, you never know. They could be your soulmate, but maybe you won’t try because maybe you will think he is not that fit.

Speaking out: Ekin-Su has warned newcomers to the programme that the road to love may be bumpy (pictured on Love Island last year)
Looks fade and as you get older you realise that this [heart] is more important than this [looks].
‘Love is linked to yourself, so I think you have to love yourself to love someone else. When I was 19 or 20, I wanted the years to speed up. Don’t go looking for love and don’t pretend to be someone else, and you never know.’
It comes after Ekin-Su claimed she ‘lost every friend’ she had after appearing on Love Island.
She said finding both love and fame has come at a cost as she has ‘deleted’ people from her life after seeing their ‘true colours’.
She told Cosmopolitan UK: ‘I’ve lost every friend I had. I don’t have any friends. I have one friend and that’s it.
‘Unfortunately, with the fame, you see people’s true colours. People just want to be your friend because of your status, and it’s a hard industry to trust.
‘No, I don’t actually have friends left.
‘People I’d known for 10 years who were in my life… Selling stories is not very nice. I wouldn’t do that to someone.


First Love Island stars REVEALED: Beautician Ruchee Gurung, 24, from Sutton and Tyrique Hyde, a 24-year-old semi pro footballer from Essex, were the first on the the list of sexy singles revealed to be entering the villa for 2023 summer series

Stunner: Actress Molly Marsh is also headed into the villa


He’s in! Following on from the trio is George Fensom, 24, a Business Development Executive from Bedford, 24, who is also looking for love on the show

Hunky: Upping the hunk factor on the show is French model Mehdi Edno, 26, who producers are said to be will be the next Davide Sancliment, after the Italian Stallion won the last series with Ekin-Su Cülcülo¿lu
‘If they were happy, I would support them. Unfortunately, I had that coming out of the villa, I had to delete people out of my life.’
However, she insisted she is ‘happier’ now because she prefers to have only a small number of people in her life.
She added: ‘But I am happier this way.
‘Sometimes keeping your circle small is the best, and you don’t always need friends. So long as you know who you are, that’s fine.’
The daughter of a soap actress, a beautician, footballer and French model are among the first of the new Love Island cast.
Their names were released on Monday by ITV2 ahead of the contestants entering the villa next month for the summer run of the dating show, which starts 5 June.
The entrance of Molly Marsh – whose mum Janet has had roles in a string of British soaps – was first reported earlier this month, and confirming she had signed up, she said: ‘With my job being in social media, I’ve had some amazing opportunities to go on press trips and I’ve actually been out to the LoveIsland Villas in Mallorca and South Africa.
‘Having the experience to walk around both was amazing but to now actually live in the Villa is going to be incredible.’


Stunner: Glaswegian model Ella Thomas 23, is also set to bring her award-winning looks to the villa while hunky Mitchel Taylor is vowing to bring his gentlemanly charm

Fill it up! London-native Jess Harding, 22, is an Aesthetics Practitioner

Here he is: Economics graduate and clothing brand entrepreneur Andre Furtado, 21, from Dudley has signed up
Doncaster-born Molly, 21, boasts 26,000 followers on her Instagram and she is thought to have caught show bosses’ eyes after taking a tour of the winter villa in January.
She added when asked why she wants to go on Love Island: ‘I think it’s ideal timing and the perfect way to find someone.
‘I don’t go out and party and I don’t use dating apps, I’m actually quite old-fashioned, so there’s no better way to meet someone than by going into a Villa in the sun with the potential “one” in there.
‘I live on a farm with my mum, dad, sister, grandma, grandad, aunty, uncle, cousin, cousin’s husband, their baby and chicken.’
Beautician Ruchee Gurung, 24, from Sutton, semi-pro footballer Tyrique Hyde, 24, from Essex, and Bedford-born business development executive George Fensom, 24, as well as Catherine Agbaje, 22, a Commercial Real Estate Agent from Dublin, are also part of the line-up.
Like former contestant Tasha Amber Ghouri, Tyrique is deaf, with the sportsman lacking hearing in one ear.
He has marked his disability with a tattoo, saying: ‘I’m deaf in my right ear. I’ve got a tattoo next to my left one that symbolises strength and power in my good one.’
French model Mehdi Edno, 26, is being tipped to the be this season’s Davide, and Glaswegian model Ella Thomas 23, has also signed up.
Love Island will air from 9pm on 5 June on ITV2 and ITVX.
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