Featured Image Credit: Instagram / @ekinsuofficial / Karwai Tang/WireImage
Topics: Celebrity, Love Island, Sex and Relationships, TV And Film, ITV
Callum Jones
Topics: Celebrity, Love Island, Sex and Relationships, TV And Film, ITV
Former Love Island contestant Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu has spoken out for the first time following her shock split from Davide Sanclimenti.
Over the years, romances that started on the popular ITV reality show have been a mixed bag.
The likes of Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae Hague have since had a child, while others have split up shortly after the show finished.
Last month, Ekin-Su and Davide announced they had split up 11 months after taking home the Love Island crown.
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After bagging £50,000 each, the pair moved in with each other, and even filmed a travel show where they visited each other's countries to sample the local cuisine and traditions.
But after reports said the couple were splitting up, Davide took to Instagram to confirm the sad reality.
He wrote: "@ekinsuofficial & I are no longer together.
"I am grateful for the memories and opportunities we shared together and wish her nothing but the best.
"I would like for everybody to respect this decision during this difficult time I will continue to support Ekin in any way possible."
On Monday (10 July), Ekin-Sku returned to social media for the first time since the split, after taking 'some much needed time away with her family.'
In a lengthy Instagram post, the Love Island star thanked fans for their 'kind and supportive' messages in recent days.
She wrote: "Hi everyone, I thought it was time to come back online to thank you so much for all of your messages over the past 2-weeks.
"It has shown me what a kind, supportive, strong community I have behind me. I took some much needed time away with my family which has been really special but now it's time to realign & get back to work.
"I have such an exciting year ahead & I want to fully focus on that. I really appreciate your ongoing support. Thank you for cheering me on. Ekin x."
Last month, Davide sat down with The Sun newspaper, where he admitted that the pressure of being in the public eye has had its impact on their relationship.
"Me and Ekin-Su had our struggles due to our public positions and we still have them sometimes," he said.
"If there's something that I would change or would have done differently [with Ekin-Su in the villa] maybe I would have taken things a bit more slowly."
In a statement following the split announcement, Davide played down suggestion he was in Ekin-Su's 'shadow', saying that the 'fake narratives' in the media had a 'massive' impact on his mental health.