Former Love Island winner Greg O’Shea has said he still watches the show, challenging the perception that contestants “have no brain cells.”
And while his Instagram followers have nearly halved – from 1.7 million after winning season five of the show after a record 15 days in the Spanish villa – he has no doubts what victory he has taken for his career.
Three years after winning with Geordie Beauty, Amber Gill, the 27-year-old Limerick man is still reaping the benefits of many projects, from fitness and TV presenter to social media marketing.
“Love Island has given me opportunities I would never have had otherwise,” said Greg, who played for the seven Irish national rugby union teams until last year.
“The only reason I get all these opportunities, let’s call a spade a spade, is because I was on the TV show.
“People only really know me because of that, so I take the so-called imitation of that, and I use it for what I care about.
“I launched a fitness platform from that.
“I have a lot of presentations on Virgin Media, I have branded social media deals and I do a lot of stuff on Instagram and things like that, which would never have happened without Loved Is land,” said Greg, who is a rugby player. Olympian and law graduate.
He said he is the biggest fan of the ITV dating reality show “and looks at it like everyone else”, but admits that “a lot of people have a bad idea of Love Island.”
He added: “They think it’s silly people walking around in bikinis and swimsuits and they don’t have brain cells between their ears.”
He is quick to argue that point and in addition to his own academic studies to become a lawyer, he points to Dr. Alex George, from season four of the reality show, who serves as the UK’s Mental Health Ambassador to the Department of Education.
Greg also mentions Yewande Biala, from Ireland, who was also on season five of the show and is a scientist with a first-class honors degree and a master’s degree in pharmaceuticals.
After all of studying and completing his law degree, does Greg see himself going to court and working as a lawyer?
“No, that’s not the way for me. It’s my backup plan,” Greg said.
He says people in Ireland go to school and university, graduate and work from 9 to 5.
I did that and even after Love Island I came home and did my law exam, which was very difficult because I was not motivated for it.
I didn’t want to do it. But then again, if Instagram crashes tomorrow and all media appearances stop coming in, what am I going to do?
I will go back to my degree and become a lawyer.”
When it comes to TV show job opportunities, Greg says, it may sound cliché, but he recommends “staying true to yourself and what you care about.”
“I was very lucky and won the show which gave me a huge following, but I wanted to go to the Olympics, I wanted to go home, be in Ireland, do my law degree, so I stuck to what I knew.
“Another great thing that I’m really happy about is that I still have the same friends I had before the show.”
Greg’s social media following went from 2,000 for Love Island to 1.7 million after he won and now he’s back to 944,000.
“It’s very hit and miss. Obviously I won the show, I had my 15 minutes of fame and then I decided not to stay with the girl I won the show with.”
Greg says he and Amber still follow each other on social media.
“We respect each other from Afar, but we are in completely different worlds.
“We’ve been in touch a few times. We’ve only known each other for two weeks. We’ve had the craziest experience together that no one can understand but other winners.”
As for the crafty body, he posted pictures of the whole lockdown, Greg confirmed he never had to resort to fake, so something people would expect to be an essential part of reality dating shows.
“I’m lucky that my mother’s family is from China, so we have pale skin and once I’m out in the sun I get a nice tan.
“I wouldn’t say any of the guys in the villa are fake tan.
“The girls maybe now, but guys, no, not really. I think once you’re in Mallorca and the thirty-degree heat hits you, you’ll get a tan.”
Greg and RTE 2FM radio host Doireann Garrihy teamed up as judges at the Curragh for the Dubai Duty Free Most Stylish competition in conjunction with the K club.
They were both booked as celebrity judges by the luxury hotel, and their adorable shared photos at the racetrack sparked a lot of “couple goals” comments.
Most Stylish winners went to Olive Foley of Killaloe, Co Clare and Harry Cowap of Bournemouth.
However, it was a very interesting and very productive day for Cian and Sinead O’Brien.
It was their first day of racing since they got married last June and it was also their first date since their son Cuan was born nine weeks ago.
Striking double success on the track, Cian and Sinead were both chosen as one of the three finalists in the Most Stylish Men’s and Women’s category.
Cian, a tax analyst, wore a Benetti window robe and plaid vest, while Sinead, a geography and business teacher at Drumcondra, wore a rented Happy Days dress and her Louboutin wedding shoes.
And for their efforts, they each went home with a voucher for dinner for two at the K-club.