Shakira Khan EXCLUSIVE: The Truth About Love Island & Growing Up Mixed Race

38:41Like, yeah, that's what I wanted to do, which is so stupid. Sounds so stupid. Aye. And I got voted. Most likely to go to Love Island. Are you serious? Yeah. There was a vote in school around. Like, you know, when you do leavers? Yes. It's not stupid at all is. So I was looking at, so obviously you mentioned Molly May, right? When Molly May left, she had a 500 ,000 pound brand deal with Pretty Little Things. She went on to become the creative director. And PLT was hot. Oh, yeah. It was hot. It was hot. She's gone on to do documentaries, et cetera, did a brand deal with L 'Oreal, right? I remember watching it all.

39:19I was like, whoa, she's so cool. Look at this. I can see when she left, the rumor is that she did a one million pound fashion deal. Oh, Polly. Oh, Polly. Yeah, look at that. So it's one of those where it is a fast track. You could argue it is one of the fastest tracks to that level of status, that level of income. Absolutely. Okay. absolutely and there was a lot of fit boys on there so that's the bonus yeah there was a lot of fit boys you know like all these celebrity crushes stopped being celebrity crushes and it started being like oh so-and-so from love island is like my celeb crush yes these were the guys like this is the best the uk had to offer on this show yeah that's what everyone would be obsessed with that is that is you you're absolutely right you know uh when uh so in matchmaking a lot of matchmakers what they'll do is they'll take a client in and say who's your celebrity crush and i have lots of friends who are matchmakers in the uk and in the u.s and you're right it was always a-list actors or actresses yeah and then it shifted to love islanders so then i have to ask how in the world then do you get to love island my friend who's an influencer um went to an itv event and it was may last year which is by the way casting's done by that point yes and she goes oh um mike spencer the big boss big boss at love island um he was doing like a talk on an itv panel and she just walks up to him after and goes he's still casting for love island she has no idea who this guy is like he's the big dog um are you still casting for love island i've got someone who'd be perfect for it like she's nothing like you've ever had before and he's like okay show me her and he's like brilliant send me a send me a details the day after they rung me up wow so this is this is fascinating this is may you're talking about this This is May of 2024 when casting is pretty much done.

41:33Pretty much done. Yes. They ring me up. It's the 1st of May. Hiya. Do you want to come and audition for Love Island tomorrow in London? You have to take the day off work. Come down. Go down. Audition. Casting and producers like, who on earth is this girl? And what is the audition? You just go and sit and you talk. They ask you questions about your dating life and funny stories and what you're like. Da, da, da, da, da. and you go in, you get all dolled over and you sit there and you talk. And I was just being myself. And I just said to him, listen, if I'm ever going to do it, I'm only going to do it early on because I'm never going to leave my job.

42:09I've got a good job. I'm not going to leave my job to go in, you know, something like Casa Amor. That's a big risk. It's a big risk, you know, to go in later on. I said, if I'm ever going to do it, I'm going to go in in the first week and that's that. And they were like, okay. So everything's wrapped. They've got their OG cast. everyone started by them and they rung me up in january of this year and said they loved you last year and i'm thinking he's like lying i'm not doing all that palaver again they loved you last year top of our list please will you will you audition and this time i have to do the full thing so i had to do a video a form zoom call like the full process then after i'd passed all that Then you go meet the casting producer.

42:56And this time I went into a second room. The three exec producers were there. And I had to do another audition. And I was like, ugh. Which is sitting, talking, responding to them? Yeah, just chatting. And then the rest was history. So how quickly thereafter did you get a message back saying you're on? I didn't. I went out on a whim so I did my press day did my press day this is like the final steps where you're gonna do all your intros like hi I'm Shakira and all that palaver and you still don't know at this point they could have like 100 people doing this I don't know it's quite select whoever does the press day whatever amount it's quite select you still don't know if you're going on and famous words you will have heard it a lot you're not on the show till you're on the shore.

43:50You're not in the villa until you're in the villa. That's the famous phrase. So now, Shakira, I didn't know this. So you're telling me... The Love Islanders have not said this phrase to you? Oh, no, no, no. That part I did know. But the press day, you're telling me the day that you take the shots... Yeah. Nothing's confirmed. I didn't know that. No. So you do all of those shots that you see... I'm sure there's loads of people from the UK who have done that press day and it'll just disappear into oblivion. All that content. Oh, my God. Yeah. Okay. So you went to your press day? I did the press day.

44:23And then the execs pulled me for a meeting then and there at the press day and said, you're flying out. A hundred percent confirmed flying out. Don't mean I'm on the show, but they're flying me out. Tell you work. I was like, oh, shit. Wait, this little Delulu fantasy I've had for years. It's like, is maybe a reality. So I spoke to my boss and I said, look, this opportunity, this doesn't happen for people like me, small girls from a small town in Burnley, Pakistani girls. This doesn't happen. I'm going to do it. Will I still have a job? It's a risk, you know? And he said, go. He said, I'll fire you if you don't do it.

45:15It doesn't matter if you're on there for a day, a week. If you do the whole thing, in two years, five years, you'll always have a job. That's all I needed to hear. What have I got to lose? What did I have to lose? Yes. And this has been a dream. This has been a silly little dream. Yeah, since 15, which is incredible. Even if I'd said it as a flyaway comment, you know, but I always wanted to do it. Yeah. But now, with that news, how did your parents react? my dad was a super fan of the show he's watched every series different when it's your daughter and i think they had their reservation my mum's never liked it i think she definitely had a perception of what the show was about like people having sex on tv people acting promiscuous and smoking and you know a lot of foul language blah blah blah on bimbos like she thought people who went on there were airheads and then nothing going for them that's what that was her perception of the show she never watched it she just is what she'd seen from the press or like people's opinions about it her more her age group whereas like someone young it was like whoa this is a really cool positive thing like this is so good she never understood that and then obviously the year before my mum would watch that series because I might have been going on that year so she'd watched the series so they had a year to come around to the idea we had a year to have those conversations because of the last year and talk about what's acceptable what's not acceptable and I was trying to explain to her I was like you've raised me you've raised me I'm a good kid I'm a good person I've got my own morals and values I would never do anything to disrespect you or embarrass you like I'm never going to go and have sex on national television I was like you've got to trust me like you've raised a good person you've just got to trust that I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do you just got to trust that and you know there's certain things like that were big no-nos for my dad and yeah I respected that like in games like it's funny for him to watch strangers if it was his daughter his first born child his you know little princess that's very difficult when put the island he fancy most in a sex position was never going to run I was never going to do that because that would be mortifying for him like that's embarrassing like and I understand I think it's light-hearted and funny and no one my age would think or any any badly for someone doing that but he just wouldn't want me to do that and I respected that so I told all the boys don't you dare don't you dare do anything but what's so great is and i say great because you know i'm a parent right what it sounds like you had is you had your parents in mind and your objective was not to disrespect well that was one yeah not to disrespect them no matter what you'd walk from the show before you would disrespect them secondly is you called it for what it is which i appreciate because i've talked to i mean i've I have many, many, many friends who have done Love Island.

48:32And publicly, it is few that will say, that will acknowledge it's a fast track to influence her world. Yeah. Right? Let's state the obvious. Please. Like, you've got, you cannot tell me if you've watched the show, or you've seen the show, everyone in the UK knows what Love Island is. Even if you've not watched it, you know what it is. It's a household name, right? I'm pretty sure a 70-year-old person would have heard of Love Island. For someone to consider going on the show and go through that process, you go through your site, da-da-da-da, they ask you to evaluate the pros and cons of going on the show.

49:15And at some point in that, you've got to factor in that you're going to have some form of media attention or you're going to become a public figure against your will. Even if you don't want to be famous or an influencer, yeah, you can go back to your normal job. People are going to know who you are and you're going to have some form of media attention. Like, I know there's people who've been paramedics before and got on and they go back to being a paramedic. It doesn't mean they're not in the sun or they're not in tabloids. Or if they walk down the street, someone's going to know who they are.

49:44That's something you've got to take into consideration. Something I took into consideration. I don't think it was ever about like notoriety or being famous. But I think a big factor for me is that I've always been wanting to be financially stable. I want to have a nuclear family. I never want my kids to want for anything. That's a big factor. Another big factor was representation. I would have had a lot easier childhood and sense of identity if I might have seen myself in more places in the media and on my Instagram feed and on TV shows. That might have helped insecure little me, who didn't have a sense of self, have a role model.

50:38It's a big thing. No one, no Pakistani female has been on that show, or South Asian female, and not been booted off. Shannon. There's a lady called Shannon Singh. She got booted off on the first day. We barely got to see her. Shame. I was so buzzing that year. I was buzzing when she got... She was on, yeah. I was buzzing. I think she was Indian. I'll double check that, but she's South Asian. I was buzzing to see someone who looks remotely like me. That's a big factor.

51:12Yeah, so you've got to weigh these things up. You're very naive to sit and you're just a liar. You just lie if you're going to sit there and say to me, you didn't know you'd have some form of opportunity after Love Island. Facts. Facts. What about, where does love fall in that? That, and this is me being completely honest, would have just been a bonus. Would have just been a bonus. I had no expectation. Even if there was going to be no career after this, I've got my career at home. It's waiting for me. that's not going to go my boss has said your job's here yeah

51:54it would just be a bonus to go in there and find love I had no expectations I didn't nothing's promised I didn't even know flying out I didn't even know if I was going to go on the show right right I could have gone flown out stayed in holding and they fly me back home that happens I could have gone on a week two weeks three weeks nothing that happens on the show promises your future outside of this there's and they say that to you like you know it doesn't matter if you go on there they can't promise you're going to have an influence in Korea they can't promise you're going to have this amount of followers no one can promise stuff like that that's just a bonus anything from that show is a bonus yes You know, thank you for being completely transparent on that question because I want more people who are going on these reality TV formats to be transparent about it.

52:51Yeah, right from the get-go. Just be transparent about it because, you know what, the audience is much smarter than we give them credit for being. And the other part of it is that if you are transparent, it allows you to live out your authenticity, you know, both on and off the project. Hey, Paul, it's time to tell our listeners about our new show sponsor, Treat Well. Let's talk nails then. I just had my manicure and pedicure too. And for those of you who might be a bit shocked to hear this, where have you been? I get it done because think about it. My hands are always being filmed, usually more than my face.

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56:07This is the level of detail that we're going to go into. So now, Shakira, here's what we're going to do. All right. You can see this is a very lovely diagram that we've put together. Yes. Here's what I would love for you to do. Okay. I would love for you to go around the board and speak to your relationship with each of these people. Because as I see it, these are the main characters in Shakira's world on Love Island. Would you agree? Yes. So we got all the main characters. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So who would you, you begin anywhere you want to begin. What was your relationship with that person?

56:51So Yasmin Bombshell turned bestie. Okay. She joined Man and Tony's little group and we became the trio, also known as the big three now. The big three. The big three. Not self-proclaimed. um helena could sort you could sort of say was my competition um we had the same type in men which i always find really funny so yeah helena we always go for the same guys ben love us to enemies and now we're like frenemies okay we're fine now it's all in the past but yeah me and ben started dating and then that turned so that was no good whatsoever connor friends to lovers back to friends okay um yeah he's like my guy best friend love connor to pieces we went there didn't work out um kashi's tony's man's that's my best friend's wife so he's he's like brother by default he's brother by brother by default okay um no i love car she's he's a great guy meg you could say she was my villa enemy at times um yeah we didn't see eye to eye sometimes but um i think we're quite similar in some ways like both very outspoken loud, outgoing yeah that's a strong word to use for terms of the board yes yes this helps with the visual and Harry that's my fella that's my villa fella that's your villa fella no he's my fella he's your fella yeah he's my fella he's your fella yeah okay he's your fella alright I love it I love it I'm curious I'm just noticing this too before we get rid of this board here is, Helena, what color eyes does she have?

59:00Blue. Look at that. Yeah. Isn't that fascinating? Yeah. Given your story of high school, that Helena becomes the competition. I mean, I don't know, is that just me that finds that? Meg also. Yeah, I mean, what color eyes does Meg have? Blue. Blue. Blondies. Blondies, blue eyes, tan. Yeah. Become the... Which I always thought was still the beauty standard in my head. Still. That's ingrained from me. And it's, I think, very much the Love Island beauty standard. You see it season in, season out. Like, before going into the villa, I papped myself. like all this confidence and took me straight back to being 13, 14 again and I was crying to my chaperone the day before were you?

59:58no one's going to step forward for me no one's going to fancy me I'm not going to be anyone's type I papped myself I was like they're going to fancy the blue eyed blondies it's going to be like high school all over again because you see it on Love Island women of colour don't they're not really the most desired people on there. You see it every year. The token black girl. Or they've just thrown in someone to, like, tick her ethnicity box. That's what people have these conversations about on social media. So you going in... I was scared. Did you feel like you were a token? Yeah, but I played into that, though.

1:00:48Of course I played into that, because I want to. So on one hand, you can say like you're the token South Asian representation, but I wanted to be that South Asian representation. I wanted to have someone like me in that space. So yeah, like you can say it's a token, but it's a token that should be a token. Yeah, there should be a tick box for that. Yes. Of course. with love island going in how long do you believe that you'll be there i had no idea okay no idea and that's honest you have no idea for one going in there you think i'm at a disadvantage me being me i didn't know how that was gonna land with viewers and i saw shannon the only south Asian female she went on the first day so there's nothing like to base it off i didn't know if people were gonna fancy me i didn't know if i was gonna gel with people because i really sound so bad the sort of guys that go on the show previously personality wise would never have gone for like my type i go for witty intelligent charming okay not even the best looking of guys either like witty intelligent charming yes personality so on that note yeah can we start with ben yeah which a lot of people are going to say i just shaded him for that but i honestly don't know ben yeah but what i do know is a lot of the commentary that i saw suggests that he was not those things what was your observation that and i said that to him But he was not those things.

1:02:42Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And I don't think he's a bad guy at all. He's not a bad guy. I just think he wasn't what I was looking for. And we clashed on that because I think it was a difficult, this is my opinion, I think it was a difficult concept for him to understand that he wasn't what I was looking for. I don't think he'd ever like not saying I rejected him but I don't think he'd ever felt projection because he's a good-looking guy and he's probably gone through like his whole life having having his way with girls but that wasn't what I was looking for like everyone's good looking in the villa right what's your impression of what the audience was seeing with regard to Ben because there were quite a large number of Ofcom complaints.

1:03:36There was allegations of misogyny. There was many allegations. Yeah. What did you see of him in the villa? I think he's quite hot-headed at times. He didn't think before he spoke and cared a lot about how he was perceived. so when we would have conflict with each other it was like you're making me look or it looks like this to other people not about like how he was feeling or how i would feel and those times that we'd have conflict and it was in front of everyone and i said we'll speak later and he's like oh we're told now because it like embarrassed him hurt his ego a bit a lot of ego there with them a lot of ego a lot of male bravado and he's the top dog and he probably has been like all his life he's a good looking guy you know um and yeah so when you critique him or like someone calls him out for something it's snappy temper and And he can buy.

1:04:51He'll buy easily. And maybe something not very nice will come out. I see. I see. And he probably didn't even intend things to be misogynistic. But he doesn't think. He just says. He just reacts. But yeah, there's some things we weren't happy about. And when he gets called out on it, then it's fight or flight with Ben. and it's always fight, fight, fight. He's always on the defense. But yeah. Fair enough. With Connor. What I found interesting about your relationship with Connor is that it appeared as if he was into you. Yeah. You know? I would say so, yeah. Yeah. Just that... Which is weird to talk about.

1:05:42Wait, wait, what is it weird to talk about? Because we're back to friends now and he's with Megan. but still still though yeah yeah but it it looked that way he said i'm 200 for you like so that was his words yeah i think i think he liked me yeah and i think at the time i didn't realize the extent of it so whereas when me and connor coupled up i was like oh this is a friendship going into a relationship where he'd probably sort of had feelings brewing. And then we were into it and then he was full steam ahead where I was like, whoa, this is a transition, but it wasn't a transition for him. You know?

1:06:29Yes, it was the full deal. I think. Was it hard to let him know that your heart wasn't in it? Yes, incredibly. And I think the thing that I was frightened about the most was losing him altogether um and yeah I could have stuck it out like I could have stuck it out but that's not the sort of person I am because I could see like it would hurt him you know and I give it a try I give it a go but when I came to my epiphany my conclusion like I had to just be honest with him and tell him even if that would hurt him in the moment i knew it was the kind of thing to do okay in the long run god what a way it worked out it's 20 minutes later in came megan 40 o 'clock goodbye shakira you couldn't you couldn't write you couldn't write it couldn't have worked out so you're happy where things have landed absolutely okay everything happens for a reason okay all right like who would have who would have thought she was going to come back and this is the girl he was caught upon and i knew that because we had a friendship with each other and i'd been his confidant and he said they're all they're not they're not megan like they're not megan like when i was his friend so i knew how much he really really liked megan like when he met megan that was he'd followed her for years on social media before coming into the villa that there's an invisible string theory there with them two.

1:08:09Yes. They're both Irish and I don't want to say I was like a placeholder for him, but me and Megan are quite similar. So we probably have a lot of characteristics that are the same that he would find attractive. But I think ultimately for him, it was always going to be Megan. Do you believe if Harry was not in the villa, you would have stayed with Connor? Yeah. yeah okay yeah isn't that interesting it is interesting yeah so then that leads us to harry harry harry harry so where i like to begin is what was your initial impression of harry um I thought he looks like a bit of a tosser

1:09:04because he came in with these this eight pack and I was like oh he's one of those like gym goers like really narcissistic in love with himself like high rocks man and that's like my biggest ick like people are like go and do high rocks and they're like into fitness and It's their whole personality. Like, I looked at Harry and I made an assumption. I read the book by its cover. I thought, yeah, he seems like typical. That guy. Yeah, he's that guy. And did you think he would have any interest in you? No. And I said that to him. I said that. That took me aback. Like, it was our first conversation.

1:09:45He said, like, obviously we didn't know each other, but he said, aesthetically, you're exactly what I'd go for. And I was like, I did not think I'd be your type at all. That was like, what? I didn't have that on my bingo card. I didn't. And so did you believe it when he said that? I didn't because I thought maybe he's just telling me what I want to hear. Like maybe he's saying the same thing to all the other girls until he told me what his ex looked like. And she's half Pakistani. You met Emma. We know Emma. I ended up meeting Emma in the villa. But, yeah, I was like, oh, maybe I am his type. He's told me his ex is half Pakistani and she looks similar to me.

1:10:39So I was like, oh, okay. Okay. So Emma, the E. Emma with the E. Emma with the E. Can we talk about the E? Yeah. How serious do you think that is? Because he, I guess he, not I guess, he lied about what the E, what it meant. Yeah. How much of that do you believe suggests any part of his character?

1:11:08I think he, what did he say? What did he tell everyone? He got it for his ex and then when they broke up, he changed the meaning for his grandma. So he was transparent with us in the villa about that. Because then when Emma came in, we all knew what he meant when he was saying, it's my ex, this one. So he told us, but I think in his VT or whatever, he was like, oh, I've got a tattoo. It's my grandma's initial. But yeah, he was quite transparent with what that was. With what it was. Yeah. All right. Which maybe didn't get shown. Okay. That's fair. That's fair. Yeah. Because I think to many, it could have played as it was dubious.

1:11:54Yeah. No. He told everyone. Okay. Yeah. All right. So now, when you are thinking about these interactions, right, have you watched the entire series back? No. You haven't? No. So nobody got time for that. Oh, my gosh. I thought you wouldn't know. I'm up to, I've tried to, but we've been out a month now, and I'm up to Casa. Okay. I'm up to Casa. I've been dipping in and out. I've seen clips of everything. My followers made sure I saw certain clips. What is your impression now, having seen this in real time, but then you see the clips, so you see what the audience sees, And you'll probably see things in the clips that you didn't see at Villa.

1:12:43It's the most baffling watch. A four-hour conversation, two-hour conversation, clipped into two minutes. It doesn't make sense. It's confusing as a viewer. I would be confused. Nothing makes sense. And there's so much like how I remember it and how I recall the events happening isn't how it happened. Because there's so much missed out in between. It doesn't make sense. I don't get how everyone's got confused watching it. Wow. Are there any surprises, anything that you're shocked by that you've learned by looking at the series? I just think it's... And I'll never, ever, ever watch Love Island again and have an opinion about someone.

1:13:36I'll never watch Love Island again in the same way and make an assumption about someone. Because the way things come, not edited, and I'm not going to say edited because what happened in there happened. But what gets shown is selective and gives you one segment of who a person is. and there's a whole whole other circle here you've just seen a segment and that doesn't make up who they are as a person or their whole character okay is there anyone in particular that comes to mind that you think if we would have seen the fullness of their their character it would have been good you know it would have been better Megan 40 o 'clock Megan really and she got a redemption arc but watching it back I can see because I was shocked we were shocked when Megan got dumped we were shocked and the whole villa was shook to their core but seeing how it panned out and how it played out I get it she gets it but that's not the Megan I know you wouldn't even know we were friends you know it fit the narrative of the divide that she was in that group and there was no crossover but we always said Megan was the glue Megan was the glue between the two groups um and yeah I had a really good friendship with Megan and then people were shocked that when she came back in that she was friends with us but we were always friends just didn't get shown didn't get shown so you just talked about the The divide.

1:15:21So we talk about that because this was, I think, of high interest to many people to the point where I could say that was one of the main stories. Yeah, of course. If you will. Let's be honest. Right. So first off, was there actually a divide? Yes. Yes. And I'm not going to sit here. And as much as people want to shit on that, that was my lived experience. and my friends will say the same. That was our lived experience and no one, and people couldn't sit there and say there was no divide. There was a divide and that's okay. And it is because that's life. That's life. What do you believe created the divide?

1:16:04Anyone who was a threat to the other group was orchestrated and we banded together. Okay. Okay. So you said we banded together, so you felt like you were the outcast. The outcast, literally. That's what we call us. Literally the outcast. The outcast. Okay, and who's in the outcast? Well, me, Tony, and Yaz call ourselves the outcasts, but you could collectively add Billy Kiss to that. Milicia. Andrada. Emma. You know? Yes. And there's a pattern here too, which I don't think anyone wants to talk about. Yeah. I mean, let's talk about it. What's the pattern? Women of color? You know, I see you don't shy away from any topic.

1:16:57You don't. And I appreciate this because I've watched Love Island for quite some time. And you'll go to the comments, especially on Twitter. And yes, we're still calling it Twitter. Right? Go to Twitter and you'll see what everyone is talking about. and you'll have your conversations with your friends and you hear what everyone is talking about. But yet when you go to television, no one is talking about it. And I think that's the beauty of a platform like this is we can talk about it and we can intellectually acknowledge it. And so this is exactly what I saw. And I was thinking to myself, okay, one is, does everyone feel this?

1:17:42Like in the village. I did. I can't speak for everyone. This is how I felt. Okay. Okay. And so do you think that the guys, because you're saying a threat, really it's a threat to taking someone's partner. Yeah. Right. So do you think that the guys saw, acknowledged, participated in it or were they just oblivious to this? boys are just oblivious I don't know what day it is and it wasn't always like that I'll be honest it wasn't always like that it wasn't the whole time everyone was at each other's throats that wasn't the case but at times yeah yeah yeah and it gets teed up on TV to be a big deal and yeah it was but drama drama drama but yeah there's times where we all got along and everything was kumbaya and la-di-da in the changing room and stuff.

1:18:38But yeah, it was there. There was a divide. And that naturally happens in life, though. No, but it's high school all over again. It's high school all over again. And that phrase was a phrase I used a lot. And that was a phrase I said even to, you know, the producers. Like, you go out and you do your headspace chat. I'm like, feel like I'm in high school all over again.

1:19:02Which is not good. No. Yeah, yeah. you just mentioned a headspace chat. I didn't know about that. What's a headspace chat? So there's producers who like sort of live in the villa. They don't live in there, but you know, you've got a morning producer and an evening producer and you'll go outside, you might have a vape or whatever, or you'll talk like about how you're feeling, who you want to have a chat with, da-da-da-da-da-da-da. So half the time you go out there and run, you're like, oh, I've got to be arsed with da-da-da. It feels like high school all over again. So that's your headspace chats and da-da-da-da.

1:19:37So they might say in the morning, oh, this happened last night. Why don't you go and speak to the girls about it and have a conversation about that? So that's the producer's job. So, for example, the grafties happened last night. Do you want to go and have a chat with Tony and Yaz and debrief about the grafties? And that's their job to do that. All right, fair, fair. So that's what you do in your headspace chat. Fair, fair. So then just one last thought and anything else you want to say about this divide is that, do you see us reaching a point where there's no longer this divide? You know, are you familiar with the Dahl test?

1:20:20Have you heard about this? So this is something that I think you in particular would love, is that there was this Dahl test done in, I think it's circa 1960s, but I could be wrong. where in essence these children are given dolls, very young. They're allowed to opt the doll that they like to play with. And you see that the children of color select the dolls of color. The children not of color, so the white children, select the white dolls to play with. at this, they're babies in essence, and they opt into that. And what it's suggesting is that this is a natural inclination. And you can look at that and say, okay, there's some positives there.

1:21:14You can look at that and say there's some negatives there. And so here we are, 2025, right? We're all grownups. You're on Love Island. And then you begin to see this divide fester.

1:21:30what's your opinion of what does that say about us as a society I think it even boils down to coming back to childhood when we were talking about childhood before people banding community even in my hometown we talk about the segregation of white communities Asian communities people find community in their own and people they have shared experiences with. So even something like if I had a conversation with someone who doesn't have the same shared experience with me, they might look at me a bit daft. You don't feel seen or understood. But then with someone you do, you have common ground to discuss it and go into it further and bond over that.

1:22:29I think that's sort of what happens in the villa too. Okay. And it does. That does make sense. That's a prime example, me and Emma. And she'll laugh about this. She'll laugh about this. I must have stole Connor off Emma. Right? You literally did. Stole Connor off Emma. and then it was like a down day. So same-sex beds. So they've put me and Emma in a bed together. We don't really know each other that well. A bit awkward. Not like nasty, but just a bit, what are we going to talk about? And she turns to me and she goes, do you like curry?

1:23:15She goes, do you like curry? Classic South Asian bonding. Yes. and then it's like this. Then it was like that. We hit it off and we could talk about our shared experiences of being mixed race and growing up half South Asian, half English, da-da-da-da. And that's just one of those things. Like, how would we have had that conversation if we didn't have that same shared experience, you know? Yes, absolutely. And it opened up a wider relationship then for us. Absolutely, absolutely. On Harry, got to go back on Harry, There was a very, very talked about moment that involved your mom. Yeah. And Harry and her refusal to give him a hug, to acknowledge him.

1:24:00Yeah. All right. Now I'm sure you've talked to your mother about it. You've talked to Harry about it. You were there. Yeah. I was there. I don't forget it. What's your take on what happened and why? That wasn't shocking to me. It wasn't shocking whatsoever. and I'd work myself up a little bit beforehand

1:24:24because I knew what the reaction was going to be. That's my mother all over. It was never going to be, la, la, la, la, la. She's a strong woman. She's raised strong-minded children and she won't shy away from things. So if she was displeased, she was going to be displeased. She wasn't going to play Happy Families, come by out. She was letting him know it was a statement. I'm not going to hug you because I'm not happy with your behaviour and I don't want you to feel like I'm accepted because I haven't. You know? Yes, yes. And that was a statement for her. Okay. Has she moved her position now? She said, clean slate.

1:25:02Because coming off, you have conversations, you explain everything else to them, how it works, what they've not seen, what they've missed out on. And then my mum, again, from the segment she's seen, starts to see the bigger picture. and she said okay I felt this way because I'm your mother and it's been hard for me to watch this for eight weeks and all I can't speak to you and all I'm feeling is what I'm seeing through the screen she's quite an empath so if I'm upset she's upset she feels that so then once we've had a discussion about it she said if you're happy I'm happy okay fresh start when you're ready when she's ready you know they can start to build that relationship for me that doesn't need to happen now fair but she's she's at the clean slate clean slate okay that's very fair yeah it's very fair so with with harry as well uh i saw lots of commentary using the word gaslighting now let me say, I believe gaslighting, controlling, manipulation, etc.

1:26:08are overly used and misused on most of these shows. Like literally. Now, gaslighting is this intentional form of creating doubt, right? Especially self-doubt. So when you look back at the series based on your experience in the villa, do you believe Harry was gaslighting at all? Not gaslighting me. I don't feel like he gaslighted me. There was times where I feel like he gaslighted other people and I could see that. And I made commentary and I'm not going to sit here and say, no, I made commentary on that through the show.

1:26:59Maybe with Helena, I think, at the Graftys, and we said it, and we spoke about it on the show, he sort of knew he was going to get heat from the Graftys. This is my perception on it. He knew he was going to get some heat from the Graftys, whatever was going to come up on the screen. He knows what he's done, and he's going to get some heat. So there was a clip of Helena talking to Harrison, saying she fancies him, da-da-da-da-da, and Harry was like, oh, you fancied Harrison? You said it was only me when you came back from the sleepover villa. like you said you're only interested in me he'd never had a problem with her getting to know harrison before because he was with me at the time she'd done nothing wrong but he was like i'm gonna give her a bit of heat so then when it's my turn we're a bit even like it's not like she's in the right and he's in the wrong okay i could see that okay i mean connor looked at each other like is he for real like we could all see what he was doing okay okay that was naughty All right.

1:27:56I see. I see. But you felt never to you. No, I don't think so. Okay. So you three, the three, I see you three. Everyone now knows who the three are, right? But you, Tony, Yasmin, right? What do you believe the public's perception was of you in the villa? and how much do you believe that those in the villa think about the public's perception? Because I've had people literally on this couch tell me one of two things. Oh, yeah, I'm not thinking about at all what happens, like what the public's thinking. And others, yeah, I'm thinking about it every night, what the public is thinking. What was your experience?

1:28:43So the only way I could describe it is your lived experience in the villa, for me, whatever you're living inside the villa you think that's the outside perception too so if you feel like the whole villa's against you and you get told 100 times a day you're wrong you're wrong you're wrong you're irrelevant you're they see that that's what you start to internalize and believe is the opinion on the outside because you've got nothing else to go off this is how you feel every day and this is why we call ourselves the outcasts you know we thought we were going to come out and this was going to still be the case us against the world in the villa you truly felt like most of the public watching thought you were outcasts you were wrong yeah and we never changed like we never this was us being us and this is my biggest piece of advice for anyone who's going to do the show don't go in and try and do something you're not even if you don't think it's going to land well don't try and change who you are because you will regret your actions if you were doing something that you don't want to do you will regret it more live your lived experience and feel how you want to feel and react how you want to react yeah so that's you being you i mean you're you're you're testimony to that because you stayed consistent yeah all the way through i would even argue that you even grew a louder voice yeah you know similar to school it all goes back it's like high school right but but you you you you stuck up for other people you stuck up for yourself uh you know supported so once you get towards the end i would imagine people are starting to think okay but yes so towards the end And so the first two, I don't know when it was, but me and Tony were in the bottom three with Megan.

1:30:42So that stayed with us for the longest time. And there was no public votes for weeks, mind you. Weeks. So that was it. We were in the bottom and we're hated. That was what we thought. And then me and Ty got voted the most compatible when I was coupled up with Ty. And I was like, oh, hold on a minute. What's possible? Like, what? But it wasn't about, you know, favourite girl, favourite boy. It was us as a couple. So that's all I know. Ty could have had a cult following, you know. Yes. And I sent Tommy home that day.

1:31:26And I thought, and I said it, back to public enemy number one. So whatever, if they liked me and Ty together, they weren't going to like me after that. because I'd gone against the grain. And this is the thing, because in the villa, Tommy was so loved by everyone, and he was one of the popular people. I was going against the grain and sending him home, but it was my choice and my decision. And two of my best friends were up there. And me, being who I am and a loyal person to my friends, I weren't going to send them home. Wow. You stood on business the whole time? Yeah. The whole time. Now, what about this is, you know, fans behavior, obviously.

1:32:11I mean, fans didn't love Harry's behavior. Yes. And I was aware of that. And you were aware of this. Yes. So what was it about Harry that made you love him so much? Harry is an enigma. He's like no one I've ever met before in my life. and you've everyone's seen this again it comes back to the small segment the small segment of Harry which is probably the worst traits of Harry so that's the most entertaining side but he is amazing and he does treat me so well he's witty he's charming he's intelligent all those things that I said I look for in a partner we have same thing like the same values and things we want out of life very similar like we want to have we want to get married and have children and have like a long-lasting relationship and I think that's something very important that we both have bonded over because my parents have been married for such a long time and have children together and you know that's not a broken family and I'm not going to talk too much about him but he wants to have a relationship with the right person and that's one of his biggest fears and that's one of my biggest fears is doing life with the wrong person yes yes so when you both left you left uh as a couple but non-exclusive yeah right well not exclusive as in we declared it Exactly, exactly.

1:33:49So I think he's very villator. But really, you left as what I would imagine to be friends exploring a committed relationship. Yeah. So where do you stand today? We're dating each other. You can't put a label on it, but we're dating each other. We're spending time with each other. I'm not dating anyone else. He's not dating anyone else. so you could say we're exclusively dating each other. That's exclusively dating each other, yeah. But I think exclusive is a silly label because it would just be boyfriend and girlfriend is the label for me, you know? Yes. But we're just dating. Yes. You would like to be married, though?

1:34:38Absolutely. Could you see yourself marrying Harry? They weren't happy about it either. I wouldn't date someone if I didn't see that intention with them. Yeah, I could see that. It's a waste of my time. It's a waste of their time. I would not want someone to be my boyfriend or my partner if I didn't see something long-term with them. I don't need anyone. I'm very self-sufficient. I don't depend on anyone. If I'm investing time into you, it's because I'm investing into a future with you. Look at this. you left this show and you really won in all senses of the word in all senses and i'm telling you i never ever ever in a million years anticipated to go on to that show and fall in love with someone never in a million years but you did which is sounds so odd going on to love island And you're not thinking that, but I didn't.

1:35:44Yeah. And even beyond the relationship with Harry, I think the relationship between you, Tony and Yasmin, that was really one of the most talked about. And it was really beautiful to see the show celebrate three strong women who are representing. Yeah. And I would say that they were a bigger part of my experience than Harry was. Harry was a small part of my experience. You know, if you tallied up the days we were together, it wouldn't be that much. Like, mine and Harry's relationship is much more, you know, coming out of the villa. Yes. Whereas my experience in the villa was Tony and Yasmin. Every day.

1:36:34Every day, every morning, every evening. They were my shoulder to cry on, voice to vent to. I know more about them than I know about Harry. Yeah, yeah. And I'll imagine about even some of your friends from back home because of how much time. How much time we spent together. Yeah. So clearly those are your besties. With Harry, would you say currently, where you sit right there, are you in love with him?

1:37:08it's a yes yeah it's a yes and i knew that very early on do you believe he's in love with you i think so okay i'd like to think so okay all right that's a strong start it's a very strong start very um you know what's interesting is you've been very calm cool and collected throughout this entire interview but the moment we pulled out the l word I see your whole body changes on that this is big this this is this is this is this is significant this is important to you yeah yes this is personal it's personal yeah I like it um so in the Love Island group like the the Meg Helene is I'm assuming you have no conversation with them today no no okay and if we see each other like we'll we've lived an experience together yes we've lived together for eight weeks i'm never gonna walk down the street and you know blank them like we've we've shared a lot of time together and the most one of the most important or life-changing experiences of our lives was shared with each other i'll always have a conversation with them yes always but but you tony and yasmin you must talk all the time yeah all right um so So now going forward, you had entered to fast track.

1:38:36You left as one of the most followed Love Islanders. Yeah. What? You came in second place. What? You have a minimum of three new besties, right? Yeah. You have found love. What's next for you? world domination might just be the prime minister after all I'll go back to that build a politics career I don't know but I'm excited yes I'm excited who knows maybe back on TV maybe the influence in social media career who knows who knows but watch this space love it because I'm going to make it happen whatever I want to do when I decide to do it I'll make it happen That I believe. So then last question, everyone gets this.

1:39:30This is my favorite question still. If you think back through all of the incredible conversation you've had in your life, which conversation stands out to you as the most memorable? Who was it with and what did you learn?

1:39:51my high school teacher told me and this is when i was upset one day about some girls at school and she said to me when did a lion ever care about the opinion of sheep

1:40:12you could choose it you want to be you'd rather be a lion

1:40:20that was going to stay with me. I loved it. You know, Shakira, you are very impressive. I didn't know what I was going to get when you walked in. You know, you've never done an interview before, so I couldn't go back and look at how you showed up in that interview. But I had quite a bit of research, and obviously saw you on the show, but didn't know exactly who I was going to get. And you have thoroughly impressed me. Thank you. Thoroughly impressed me. You are clever. You are all the things. What is it? Witty. Witty, charming, intelligent. You are witty, charming, and intelligent. Thank you. You are.

1:41:04And I have no doubt that anything that you choose to do, anything that you choose to do, you will be able to accomplish. And I want to make sure that I say this. I think this is very important is you are exactly who we need right now representing us. You're exactly who we need. Thank you. That means a lot.

1:41:30Whatever my preconceived notions were, Shakira blew through all of them. Just exceptionally impressive. She's someone who is tenacious but extremely mature for her age of being only 22. The entire conversation around identity was poetic, especially as you see it play out in Love Island. What I love is how unapologetic she was in her conversation around identity. What she was saying is not meant to offend anyone, but it is to empower people. Everyone who watched Love Island must see this conversation to fully understand who she is. Our childhood shapes how we show up as adults. And you could even see the boldness and the fierceness of Shakira came from her having to develop that voice.

1:42:34Or actually, she had it, lost it, and had to regain it. Lessons for me is the importance of being unapologetically you, speaking truth to power, consistently doing that. She had the dream of Love Island in order to monetize the brand that she builds off of Love Island. Love was just a bonus. Look at that. She got her bonus. Shakira just might be the greatest thing to come from this season of Love Island.