Ekin-Su Culculoglu has revealed she thought Gemma Owen and Luca Bish would win Love Island 2022 for “obvious reasons”.
The Turkish actress from Essex, 27, and her boyfriend Davide Sanclimenti, also 27, triumphed in the dating series with 63.7% of the public vote while Bish and Owen came second with 14.5%, according to ITV.
Speaking on the Capital Radio Breakfast Show on Tuesday, Culculoglu said that she is “still shocked” that she clinched the title with the Italian business owner.
Asked whether she thought they would win, the actress said: “If I’m honest, I didn’t even think about winning or who’s going to win. We were so involved in our relationship.
“I did have someone in my head that would perhaps win because of maybe obvious reasons.”
After a presenter suggested her pick was 23-year-old fishmonger Bish and the 19-year-old the daughter of football star Michael Owen, she agreed.
“I thought because they had it from the start and they were cute together and I wanted them to win and they’re great,” Culculoglu added.
Indiyah Polack and Dami Hope, and Tasha Ghouri and Andrew Le Page also made it to the final, coming third and fourth respectively.
Culculoglu said that despite saying she was not there to make “seasonal girlfriends” when she arrived, she is friends with all the finalist girls plus others from throughout the series.
However, she added that it will be her birthday on August 21 and that she will only be inviting “exclusive people” to the event.
The eighth series of the ITV dating show attracted record viewer ratings and drew the attention of famous faces from across the world including pop star Lizzo.
Culculoglu revealed that Stranger Things’ Noah Schnapp is among the other celebrities to reach out to her following the show.
The actress and Sanclimenti were pictured arriving at the Global Radio studios in London ahead of their appearance on the Capital Radio show.
She wore a white off-the-shoulder dress with ruffle detail and sandals while Sanclimenti wore a blue check shirt and denim jeans.