Maura Higgins is one of the queens of Love Island. (If you don't believe us, you only have to listen to all the contestants on this year's show using her iconic catchphrase: 'fanny flutters'.) And though Maura didn't find long-lasting love following her 2019 stint in the villa (she dated Curtis Pritchard, and later went out with her friend Chris Taylor) the star has revealed she now has a new partner.
And fans have been very surprised by the new celeb pairing.
After loads of speculation, last week she confirmed her romance with.Strictly Come Dancing professional Giovanni Pernice, with the pair both posting photos which were captioned 'I’m yours❤️' on Instagram.
The reality star had earlier hinted at her romance with Giovanni, as on Wednesday night, Maura simply posted a snap of her holding hands with a mystery man (in a suave navy suit, very Giovanni) on her Instagram story.
The pair have been rumoured to be dating since last month, and before they confirmed their romance, they had been spotted in the same hotel in Cornwall and on a night out in Blackpool.
Sources close to the pair have also revealed that they are 'very much a couple'.
An insider told MailOnline,'Gio and Maura are very much a couple. Everyone knows he’s played the field in the past but he is serious about Maura. He’s smitten with her, they’ve become close really quickly.'
The source also revealed that Giovanni had taken Maura away on a trip to Blackpool, explaining, 'She’s become pals with all of the cast and crew of Him and Me too and they think she’s great. Maura has also met Anton [du Beke] and they got on brilliantly.'
Earlier this year, Maura split from fellow Love Island star - and co-host of heat’s Under the Duvet with VOXI- Chris Taylor, who she dated for six months. She previously dated Curtis Pritchard after coupling up with him whilst in the Love Island villa. Curtis' brother AJ is good pals with Giovanni after working alongside each other as professional dancers on Strictly.
READ MORE: 17 Love Island Bombshells Who Well And Truly Shook Up The Villa
The Best Love Island Bombshells...
Maura Higgins (series five)
Irish ring girl Maura Higgins was reality TV gold from the moment she stepped into the villa and fed Michael Griffiths dessert on their date just to rile up the OG girls.She then got the fanny flutters for Tommy Fury and tried to steal him from Molly-Mae Hague with the classic line, 'Does she turn you on like I do?' While she didn't manage to bag her man, she later coupled up with Curtis Pritchard who she dated until March 2020.
Joanna Chimonides (series five)
Casa Amor is always guaranteed to throw a spanner in the works, but Michael Griffiths was seemingly happily coupled up Amber Gill before she was sent packing to the second villa.Enter Joanna Chimonides - one of six brand new bombshells - who well and truly turned Michael's head. He suddenly began doubting his relationship with Amber and left her shocked when she returned to the villa alone to discover he'd re-coupled. Still, she went on to win the show and bag half of the 50 grand prize, so it worked out pretty well for her in the end.
Molly Smith (series six)
Speaking of Casa Amor, Molly Smith joined the 2020 series as part of the infamous twist and it wasn't long before she was necking on with Callum Jones - all the while, his partner Shaughna Phillips was staying loyal back in the main villa.Their shock re-coupling spawned one of the show's most iconic catchphrases as a gobsmacked Shaughna uttered the immortal words, 'Congrats, hun,' but Callum and Molly are still going strong these days so he probably made the right decision
Jack Fowler (series four)
Laura Anderson soon got over having Wes Nelson stolen from her by Megan Barton-Hanson (more on that later) when Jack Fowler entered the villa.They immediately hit it off but things didn't get off to the smoothest start when her friend Georgia Steel invited him on a date and then claimed that he tried to kiss her. Footage later showed it was actually Georgia who went in for the kiss. Awks...
Malia Arkian (series two)
Malia Arkian caused a right stir back in 2016 when she lasted all of about five minutes in the villa before being booted out for allegedly punching Kady McDermott.Kady was fuming with Malia for choosing to date Scott Thomas, who she was coupled up with, and 'accidentally' spilled a glass of wine on the newcomer which led to one of the show's most dramatic altercations.
Megan Barton-Hanson (series four)
Wes Nelson and Laura Anderson were one of Love Island 2018's strongest couples (or so we thought) until Megan Barton-Hanson strutted into the villa as a bombshell.Meg set her sights on Wes following her failed romance with Eyal Booker and managed to turn his head, causing him to tell Laura he was 'happy with her but could be happier'. Not exactly what you want to hear from your other half is it?
Alex Bowen (series two)
Former scaffolder Alex Bowen turned many a head when he entered the villa with fellow bombshell James Khan (no, us neither). Not only did he flirt up a storm Olivia Buckland but he spent the night in the hideaway with Zara Holland, who was stripped of her Miss Great Britain title after they had sex.After receiving the bad news, a tearful Zara quit the villa in emotional scenes while Alex remained in the villa and coupled up with Olivia - who's now his wife.
India Reynolds (series five)
Okay, so she technically didn't do anything wrong but India Reynolds was partly responsible for one of the show's most iconic bust-ups EVER when Jordan Hames made a move on her just two days after asking Anna Vakili to be his girlfriend.After catching wind of Jordan's antics thanks to Maura Higgins, Anna furiously confronted him and the rest is history.
Georgia Harrison (series three)
Former TOWIE star Georgia Harrison was the last bombshell sent into the villa back in 2017 and was given the unenviable task of choosing a boy to couple up with straight away. She ended up picking Kem Cetinay, who unbeknown to her had just asked Amber Davies to be his girlfriend. SO AWKWARD. Amber's shocked reaction became an iconic meme and she wasn't afraid to speak her mind, branding Georgia a 'd--k''. Ouch.
Jess Shears (series three)
When you're a Love Island contestant, the one thing you can expect is the unexpected. Case in point when model Jess Shears entered the villa as bombshell just when the Islanders were settling into their new couples on the first day.This proved to be bad news for Montana Brown who was smitten with Dom Lever but later had her man stolen by Jess. It was clearly a good choice though as Jess and Dom got married in 2018 and welcomed their first child a year later.
Katie Salmon (series two)
Katie was Love Island's first openly bisexual contestant and created history when she coupled up with Sophie Gradon and became one half of the show's first ever same-sex couple.Unfortunately for Katie, Sophie still had feelings for former flame Tom Powell and dumped her before quitting the show.
Jourdan Riane (series five)
Curtis Pritchard and Amy Hart were one of the villa's strongest couples going into Casa Amor so surely he would stay loyal, right? WRONG.Despite being Amy's half-boyfriend, Curtis admitted he would couple up with newcomer Jourdan (even though they'd only had about two conversations). After being turned down by Jourdan, a guilty Curtis 'fessed up to Amy who was about to tell him she LOVED him. Oh dear...
Chris Hughes (series three)
Chris Hughes was quite the charmer when he entered the villa back in series three and it wasn't long before he won over Chloe Crowhurst and they coupled up. However, he later switched his attention to Olivia Attwood and incurred the wrath of Sam Gowland who was also interested in her.Sam accused Chris of being 'sly' in a furious row and they had to be pulled apart after squaring up to each other.
Kaz Crossley (series four)
Josh Denzel was one of the many Islanders to be tempted by a Casa Amor bombshell despite being coupled up with 'loyal' Georgia Steel in the main villa.He returned from the second villa with Kaz Crossley in tow, leading to one of Love Island's most memorable meltdowns when Georgia screamed that Josh had 'f--ked it'.
Ovie Soko (series five)
Anna Vakili was unable to resist the charms of basketball player Ovie Soko (and who could blame her?) in Casa Amor despite being coupled up with Jordan Hames.She brought Ovie back to the main villa but later decided she would still rather be with Jordan - and we all know how that turned out...
Ellie Jones (series four)
Love Island producers threw a right spanner in the works for power couple Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham when they brought in his ex Ellie Jones during Casa Amor.A devastated Dani was shown a video of Jack chatting to his ex, resulting in over 2000 complaints to Ofcom. She didn't have anything to worry about though as Jack stayed loyal but Ellie did enter the main villa after coupling up with Sam Bird which wasn't ideal.
Emma Jane Woodham (series two)
Ellie wasn't the first ex to enter the villa though - that honour goes to series two's Emma Jane Woodham, who'd previously dated fellow Islander Thomas Powell. He was SHOOK when she arrived and later quit the show.As if that wasn't enough, Emma coupled up with Terry Walsh even though he'd promised to stay loyal to Malin Andersson and they caused quite the controversy when they had sex on top of the covers for all to see.
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