Finley Maddock for Love Island 2026 / ITV
Love Island suffered its most devastating bloodbath yet last night as four bombshells were dumped and OG Ellie Chadwick chose to walk out.
Shortly after leaving the villa, Finley Maddock spoke to the press about his time on the show…
How does it feel to be leaving Love Island?
“Yeah, it’s obviously bittersweet because I’ve ended Ellie’s journey early because of my actions. Obviously now it’s just the start of the journey with Ellie on the outside.”
How were you feeling at that moment when the Islanders decided to send you home?
“I expected to be in the bottom three with the public. I would have been more baffled if I wasn’t after my actions over the past couple of days. The Islanders said in their explanation that it was due to some of my actions over the past couple of days. I kind of knew. When Maya asked if any of us wanted to defend ourselves and give reasons why we wanted to stay, I wasn’t going to stand there and defend myself. I’d put myself in that situation. I’m a big man, I can take it.
“I was standing there looking at Ellie and, in the back of my mind, I knew there was going to be some sort of decision she would have to make. I didn’t want to do that to her, but I wasn’t going to stand there and defend myself either because I was there because of my actions. Obviously, she ended up leaving with me, which was a very bittersweet moment. I was so happy she was leaving, but I felt like shit about the fact I had ended her journey. Even though she made the decision, she was probably there because of me. But it’s not the end of it. You learn a lot when you’re in there about how to deal with things. It’s a completely unique experience. I’m grateful for it and I’ve learned a lot. Now I need to put the things I’ve learned into action!”
You had a lovely connection with Ellie, but then Casa Amor arrived. How did you approach that?
“We were peaking, we were at the best part and everything was flowing – then Casa came. I knew I didn’t want to go in there and force anything with anyone just for the sake of it being Casa Amor feeling like I had to explore options. I didn’t want to do that because I knew I had Ellie. I don’t regret anything in Casa. I really tried my best to explore the options I had, but I wasn’t feeling it. When you’re speaking to someone and constantly thinking about Ellie, it just doesn’t work. That told me a lot. It was the first time in my life I’d listened to my gut. My gut was telling me Ellie.”
What was it like returning to the main Villa and waiting to see whether Ellie had stayed single?
“I was probably the most anxious I’ve ever been in my whole life, genuinely. I was standing there waiting for her to come in and thinking about what could happen. She could have been standing there and put herself in a vulnerable position. Some people might bring somebody back so they’re not vulnerable and then say, ‘I’m with her anyway’. Putting myself in that position was very much like, I’ve put myself out there. But it was the best decision I’ve ever made in my life.”
Things were going well with Ellie, then Elicia arrived and chose you for a date. How was it navigating that situation?
“I had a really good date with Elicia. We had a very good chat. She’s a very nice person, very chatty and very easy to get along with. I came back from the date and I knew where my head was with Ellie, but it was confusing. My brain wouldn’t even work at that moment. I was trying to decide whether it was just because I was on a date and it was fun. I couldn’t compare it. Then we had another date, which was where everything kind of went wrong for me. I started breaking boundaries and going back on my word. That was the issue. I knew I was never going to fully explore it in the Villa, so I thought that if I was going to put myself out there and really explore it, it was going to be on this date. I did it, then came back and made a mess for a couple of days.”
Elicia then chose you at the recoupling, but you slept on the daybed. What was going through your mind?
“She picked me in the recoupling and then I went and slept on the daybed. I’d done all this madness, she had picked me, and then I said ‘I’m going to sleep on the daybed’. I was leaving Elicia on her own and maybe making her feel embarrassed. But at the same time, I’d made Ellie feel embarrassed, I wanted to check in on her and I didn’t really know what to do. There was a lot going on. The conversation in bed was just me trying to have a conversation. I kept being told that I was doing things for other people and not doing what I wanted to do, that I was too polite and that people could see things. I was laughing everything off because I couldn’t be arsed to get into it. I’d had so many serious chats. I was ‘serious-chatted’ out.”
You got some heat from the Villa over how you handled things with Ellie and Elicia. Do you have any regrets?
It’s such a unique experience and I’m not going to say I have any regrets. I wish I’d handled it a lot better in terms of communication. I’ve learned a lot from it. You’re supposed to go in there and learn things about yourself, that’s part of the show. Nobody’s perfect and I’ve learned something from being on the show. It’s bad that I hurt people, but I’m thinking about where we are now. We’re in a good place. Definitely no regrets. I just could have handled it a lot better than I did. As long as we learn from our mistakes, eh?”
Love Island continues Sundays to Fridays at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX, with Unseen Bits airing Saturdays at 10pm.
