love island maurice

We Grilled ‘Love Island’ Villain Maurice On Whether He Dumped His GF For The Show

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Last night two massive personalities were sent packing on Love Island, with Vanessa Sierra and Maurice Salib getting the boot.

In a savage elimination, Sophie Monk revealed the bottom three couples as voted by the public, and the villa’s top couples had to choose which boy and girl would be voted off. In the end the boys voted for Vanessa, while the girls chose Maurice.

Maurice is one islander that has particularly enraged viewers. The day the show premiered, YouTuber Christie Swadling uploaded a video claiming Maurice dumped her before going on the show.

Then a few days in, Maurice had a breakup conversation with Jessie, and viewers called out the language he used as gaslighting. As Maurice quickly moved on to Cynthia after being dumped by Jessie, fans of Cynthia were suss over whether Maurice was actually interested in her or just wanting to stay on the show.

We chatted to Maurice after his elimination to get to the bottom of it all.

On dumping his girlfriend for Love Island:

“We were seeing each other for approximately two months and there was never really a title or label [on it], it wasn’t official. We were just seeing each other on a regular basis. She’s a fantastic girl, love her to bits.

“But after two months, I said I didn’t think it was panning out to how I expected, so I politely called it off and after that we were totally cool, we were still chatting every second or third day after we broke things off. Then about a week afterward, the team on ITV invited me to come on Love Island,” he said, adding, “I’m eager to reconnect with her when I get back.”

On claims he was gaslighting Jessie:

“I think in the environment we were in, we kind of felt from both of us that it was getting a bit heated and uncomfortable with the situation. We both apologised profusely and we both didn’t treat each other to the best of our abilities.

“By no means did I have any intentions to make her feel less than or to manipulate her, that was definitely not my intention.”

“She did voice on several occasions that her communication in relationships isn’t her strongest forte and I did communicate to her we could both improve on that,” he said.

“The most recent conversation I had with Jessie (when I was dumped from the island) was so beautiful and kind. She and I were vibing. I think we got along way better after we uncoupled.”

On his change of heart towards Cynthia:

While Maurice didn’t show interest in Cynthia while matched with Jessie, he reckons that’s because he was committed as a couple. “I pride myself on giving a person my full attention and I did communicate that very articulately to Cynthia. I said to her ‘If I’m going to be coupled up with someone, I want to be absolute and give my sole focus to them’.”

On whether his connection with Cynthia was legit:

“I really wanted to take things slow and she also wanted to take things slow. I needed to respect that because she also hasn’t had a boyfriend before. We wanted to take things slow, have incredible conversations and really search for that spark and I felt that would be a time factor.”

“We were taking it slow and literally on the last day, we made out [in the challenge] and I did see things eventuating from that. She’s a beautiful person and I’d love to connect with her when she gets out.

On Vanessa’s reputation in the villa:

“She’s a cool girl. She’s really misunderstood and really a girl’s girl. I pride myself on staying clear of the drama but towards the end I did hear rumours that she wasn’t true to many people and she had hidden agendas. I didn’t see it and I don’t believe it. I didn’t see what everyone is talking about.”

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Love Island returns tonight on Channel 9.