Ellie Chadwick for Love Island S13 / 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, Ellie spoke to the press about her time on the show…
How does it feel to be leaving Love Island?
“Surreal and bittersweet. There are so many emotions going through me. I came for one thing, I wanted to find someone and I found it. There was no point in me staying until the end just to be a placeholder, it didn’t sit right with me. Nothing in my gut told me I needed to stay. I knew full well in my gut, my heart and my head that leaving was the only and the best option for me, so that’s what I did.”
Overall, how would you describe your Love Island experience?
“I’ve loved every minute of it. The highs, the lows, the ebbs and flows, everything about it, I’ve absolutely loved. I’ve just been myself, shown my true colours and absolutely had a ball. I’ve been through some hard bits, but listen, that’s what makes it. That’s life. I’m a real human and that’s what makes the experience.”
You decided to leave the Villa when Finley was voted out by the other Islanders. Can you explain how that decision came about and how you were feeling at that moment?
“Obviously, seeing Finley up there was hard because it was a recent event and he hadn’t been in the bottom before. Then, when we got told about the second dumping and that we had to choose, I already kind of knew in my gut that it wasn’t going to go the way I was hoping, which was for me and Finley to stay there and continue to grow. There were no ifs, buts or maybes, or what ifs, or how could this play out.”
You and Finley were one of the strongest couples in there, then Elicia came in and Finley started getting to know her. How do you think he navigated that situation?
“Finley knows fine well that I feel like he navigated it very poorly. I made that very vocal and I will stand on that. I always will. I think the communication was poor. A lot of the things that happened were not relayed to me in a proper way, which I would have appreciated. I’m big enough to take the truth on the chest. I’m happy with that. I’m a very direct, upfront person.
“I just think the communication was poor and the way he handled it wasn’t great. I understand he was confused. I was understanding the whole time, but there was only so much understanding I could do. There are definitely ways it could have been better, but we live and we learn. That’s what Love Island is. It’s about living and learning. I’ve learned a lot about myself there and I’ve got to give him grace on that. It doesn’t mean the grafting boots are off because we’re out now, those boots are still on. I believed in the connection we had so much. I just knew in my heart that it was going to work, regardless of what was going on.”
When Elicia chose Finley at the recoupling, how was that for you?
“When Elicia chose Fin at the recoupling, all hell broke loose. I was angry. As all the girls were saying, I just lost my cool. There had already been a little bit of back and forth. I more or less knew what was coming, but it had been back and forth and I just lost it. I had too much emotion in me to let out. I’d laid my cards out. I couldn’t do any more. I was just hurt. It wasn’t like she had done anything wrong. She had a job to do, she was a Bombshell. I was just feeling a type of way about it, and that was okay. Everyone in that situation was feeling a type of way, mine just came out in a louder way than everyone else’s.”
Finally, what was in the wicker handbag?
“Honestly, it was a giggle. It was my lip combo, my perfume and deodorant. I didn’t carry it around everywhere. I carried it around after I came back from the date with Kavan. I didn’t carry it around all the time, we might need to do a little rekindling on the outside, me and the wicker bag. Who knows? I might take it everywhere now!”
Love Island continues Sundays to Fridays at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX, with Unseen Bits airing Saturdays at 10pm.
