It seems hard to believe that Love Island 2019 was only just over a year ago. The villa welcomed some of it's most popular contestants yet, with the likes of Maura Higgins and Molly-Mae Hague - but it was Amber Gill who was so well liked she was able to win the series despite only being with Greg O'Shea for a few days. He dumped her a couple of weeks later by text - and she has since, rightly, claimed she was the first solo winner of Love Island.
Obviously, none of the show's recent contestants have been as busy this year as they usually would. You can't exactly do club appearances or fashion shoots when the whole country is being ordered to stay indoors. But Amber didn't mind the enforced break at the beginning. 'I'd say at the beginning of lockdown, I loved it because it was something like brand new,' she tells Grazia over the phone, 'I've never been told to sit in the house and do nothing before, like that was quite fun.'
But living on her own, away from her home town of Newcastle, understandably Amber started to find it tricky. Like most of us, she started going to daily walks, and kept in touch with her family and friends through FaceTime and quizzes over Zoom. She also says it's been important during lockdown to keep an eye on her friends from Love Island, as they can be honest with each other about their unique experiences in the public eye. 'I try to [keep in touch with them] as much as possible as I think it's just nice.,' she says. 'Especially because there's such a small amount of people that have gone through the same experience. I need to check in with them quite a lot. Because they know that I know exactly how they feel.'
She regularly checks in with her other friends and family too. 'I've just always been an honest kind of person,' she says. 'I think because I've always been the one that's been like you've got to do your meditation, you've got to breathe in and you've got to check in with yourself that people naturally come to me because they know they can be honest with me, because I'll be like how do you feel and they would never just say I'm fine. I'm like, "No, come on. Like, are you okay?" kind of thing. I text or call if I feel like somebody needs it.'
When she was struggling during lockdown, the reality star turned to apps, such asThrive, to help manage her mental health. 'I try to meditate every day, because it does help manage my stress a lot. And then there's things like deep breathing exercises that just keep you grounded. You know, it is a crazy time, but you still can keep calm because you can get through it. And so I think it's just reminding yourself of that.' Amber also recognises that social media - especially with her huge platform - can be toxic, and says she sometimes deletes the app for a couple of days from her phone.
'Everybody's more than just what the feel,' Amber adds, 'and using my voice - or just everyone individually using their voices - is important, especially because there's kind of a little bit of stigma around talking about mental health and so it's just nice to put it out there, so everybody feels comfortable talking about it.'
Amber has also been outspoken about the government's handling of the Coronavirus crisis, writing about the Dominic Cummings saga on Twitter a few weeks ago: 'After I saw that man drive all the way up the country to check his eyesight with a hot box of corona & the gov defended him I knew I wasn’t listening to a damn thing after that.'
'I like when things are clear cut,' she explains to us. 'And I also like honesty, so if something was a mistake, you know, you can see it, you can hold your hands up and say, "Look, we'll try this, this doesn't work. We should try something else." But I think what I'm so upset with is just the confusion and making everybody scared and stressed. I think it's the government's job to keep everybody calm, and they're not.'
Despite the situation we're all in, the former Islander has continued to work hard and she has projects in the pipeline for next year which are yet to be revealed. She's also hoping to go on holiday to LA to see the person she's 'been talking to', which must be exciting. After all of this, we couldn't think of anything better than a break away.
Thrive are supporting World Mental Health Day 2020 with a #BehindTheSmile campaign. Find out more here.
READ MORE::a[A Comprehensive Guide To Which Love Island Couples Are Still Together]{href='https://graziadaily.co.uk/celebrity/news/love-island-couples-still-together-all-series-2/' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener noreferrer'}
Which Love Island couples are still together?
1 of 38Hannah Elizabeth and Jonathan Clark - SPLIT
Remember when they, like, got engaged on the show? That one didn't quite last...
2 of 38Luis Morrison and Cally Jane Beech - SPLIT
They had the first ever Love Island baby but in September 2018 they confirmed they'd split.
3 of 38Jordan Ring and Zoe Brown - SPLIT
Absolutely DID NOT work IRL. Neeext.
4 of 38Katie Salmon and Adam Maxwell - SPLIT
Adam claimed he was '100 percent single' shortly after leaving the villa and, um, that was that. #Kadam; gone but never forgotten.
5 of 38Rykard Jenkins and Rachel Fenton - SPLIT
At least they lasted 18 months. Not bad going...
6 of 38Scott Thomas and Kady McDermott -: SPLIT
Scott and Kady managed a year before splitting in 2017.
7 of 38Nathan Massey and Cara de da Hoyde - STILL TOGETHER
They've got their little Love Island baby and everything and are very much happily married. And baby number two is on the way for Cara, exciting times!
8 of 38Malin Andersson and Terry Walsh - SPLIT
He did date fellow Love Island-er Emma-Jane Woodhams eight months in actual real life before calling it a day. AH WELL.
9 of 38Gabby Allen and Marcel Somerville - SPLIT
Gabby dumped Marcel after he was apparently caught cheating as they holidayed TOGETHER. Blimey.
10 of 38Jamie Jewitt and Camilla Thurlow - STILL TOGETHER
An absolute success story of Love Island 2017, Jamie and Camilla and Jamie are still the CUTEST of couples. And a baby is on the way. Hurrah!
11 of 38Sam Gowland and Georgia Harrison - SPLIT
Sam seemed to be doing alright for himself on Geordie Shore, so we don't think he's too gutted.
12 of 38Olivia Attwood and Chris Hughes - SPLIT
The couple were plagued with cheating rumours throughout their relationship (who can forget that whole Chris Hughes and Katie Price debacle?). Since their ITVBe show Crackin' On ended, Olivia's confirmed she's back with ex-boyfriend Bradley Dack, who she is now engaged too.
13 of 38Alex Bowen and Olivia Buckland - STILL TOGETHER
Alex and Olivia are married and literally as strong as ever. We like to live vicariously through them, to be honest.
14 of 38Tyla Carr and Jonny Mitchell - SPLIT
Oh it was never gonna last, was it?
15 of 38Kem Cetinay and Amber Davies - SPLIT
TheLove Island2017 winners split in December 2017; five months after the finale.
16 of 38Montana Brown and Alex Beattie - SPLIT
These two split just weeks after returning to the UK. Sad times.
17 of 38Dom Lever and Jess Shears - STILL TOGETHER
Jess and Dom are SO together, in fact, they got 'married' on Good Morning Britain on Valentine's Day 2017. They then got, y'know, properly married. They now have a baby boy, too.
18 of 38Sam Bird and Georgia Steel - SPLIT
You know how this one went. Sam accused Georgia of cheating on him with her ex, which she denied. It's safe to say they didn't split on the best of terms.
19 of 38Zara McDermott and Adam Collard - SPLIT
Zara and Adam called it quits at the beginning of 2019. Now she's dating Made In Chelsea's Sam Thompson and they look so happy.
20 of 38Megan Barton-Hanson and Wes Nelson - SPLIT
Megan and Wesdidmove in together, but announced their split in January 2019 following rumours Wes was getting close toDancing on Icepartner Vanessa Bauer. Uh oh.
21 of 38Josh Denzel and Kaz Crossley - SPLIT
Josh and Kaz announced their split in February 2019, with Kaz saying: 'Sometimes things don't go the way you planned, but you have to be grateful for the journey. Thank you for everything especially showing me how to love myself again.'
22 of 38Samira Mighty and Frankie Foster - SPLIT
Frankie reportedly cheated on Samira and that was that. Done. Over. thank u, next.
23 of 38Laura Anderson and Paul Knops - SPLIT
There's no bad blood betweenLaura and Paul, but they split months after making it to the final of the show.
24 of 38Jack Fincham and Dani Dyer - SPLIT
Dani released a statement via Instagram Stories (how very 2018) announcing thewinning 2018 couple had SPLIT, before they got back together just days later. They then split again. Dani is now with her ex Sammy Kimmence.However fast forward to April 2019 and Jack announced they'd split.
25 of 38Amber Gill and Greg O'Shea - SPLIT
Amber and Greg were together for less than two weeks but managed to win over the nation and Love Island 2019. But before they could even make things official they split, with Greg reportedly dumping Amber by text.
26 of 38Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae Hague - STILL TOGETHER
They faced an obstacle when Maura entered the villa and turned Tommy's head but he decided to stick with Molly-Mae and the rest is history... They surprisingly came runner up during the Love Island 2019 final but they're happy in a relationship.
27 of 38Maura Higgins and Curtis Pritchard - SPLIT
Probably one of the most shocking Love Island recouplings was definitely Maura and Curtis. Against all odds the pair made it to the final and weeks after leaving the villa they became an official couple. But it wasn't to be. The pair lasted eight months after the series.
28 of 38India Reynolds and Ovie Soko - SPLIT
Ovie and India have definitely been the most successful bombshells of all time. The basketball player entered the villa during Casa Amor and India joined the show just weeks before the final. Needless to say, we were obsessed with them but they've since called it quits.
29 of 38Belle Hassan and Anton Danyluk - SPLIT
Belle and Anton just missed out on the Love Island final and didn't seem to be spending a whole lot of time together back in the UK. Sure enough they split after five weeks, with Belle reportedly freaked out by his Craig David obsession. There's since been speculation that they'll reunite but the reality stars are yet to confirm anything.
30 of 38Harley Brash and Chris Taylor - SPLIT
Despite being latecomers to the Love Island villa, Harley and Chris won the public over - even after their drama following the Sidebar of Shame challenge. Two weeks after leaving the villa they called it quits.
31 of 38Jourdan Riane and Danny Williams - SPLIT
Jourdan and Danny left the villa shortly after the Casa Amor stint and after confirming they were in a relationship they moved in together. However in October, Jourdan ended their relationship following reports Danny was partying with random women.
32 of 38Joanna Chimonides and Michael Griffiths - SPLIT
Michael left us - and the villa - shook when he decided to recouple with Joanna, leaving Amber single. Despite the awkwardness, Michael and Joanna seemed to kind of be working - until she was dumped from the island and then he said he still has feelings for Amber. He was then dumped from the villa and Joanna was then spotted 'kissing' Michael at a festival. There was a lot going on, ok.
33 of 38Lucie Donlan and Joe Garratt - SPLIT
Lucie and Joe had a rough time in the Love Island villa, especially after thesandwich maker was accused of 'gaslighting' his other half. Luckily post-villa they managed to work through all the drama and are now in a relationship.
34 of 38Paige Turley and Finn Tapp
The winners of the first winter Love Island are still together, thank you very much. (They really are a cute couple.) Finn made the six-hour drive to Paige's house in West Lothian, Scotland just before lockdown happened. She has since even cut his hair in lockdown.
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35 of 38Siannise Fudge and Luke Trotman
Another of our all time favourite couples, Luke and Siannise are so loved up that they now live together in London. We fully expect them to get married - and we want to be invited, tbh.
36 of 38Luke Mabbott and Demi Jones - SPLIT
Three months after the series, the pair split as Demi said Luke didn't make an effort to text her during lockdown. Oh. 'With lockdown, it drove us apart and we live so far away from each other,' she told MailOnline. 'I feel like there wasn't a lot of effort made with communication, so we drifted as a result.'
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37 of 38Jess Gale and Ched Uzor - SPLIT
The pair are still good friends, but like Demi and Luke, they just couldn't make it work during lockdown. Damn.
38 of 38Nas Majeed and Eva Zapico - SPLIT
Nas Majeed and Eva Zapico are still happy together following Casa Amor, with Nas denying rumours that they'd split earlier in lockdown. From Nas' Instagram, it looks like they've been going on socially distanced dates.