Love Island’s Sammy Root puts on a brave face at his first solo red carpet after split from Jess Harding
LOVE Island star Sammy Root put on a brave face as he attended his first solo red carpet after his split from Jess Harding.
The couple, who won the latest series of the ITV2 dating show, called it quits after just three months of dating.
Sammy, 22, released a statement on social media confirming that he and Jess had gone their separate ways and was “blindsided” by the news.
The Kent-based lad appeared to put his shock split behind him as he attended the Thorpe Park’s Halloween Fright Night launch night.
Project manager Sammy was all smiles as he posed on the red carpet at the star-studded event.
The star wore a classic black t-shirt, grey stonewashed jeans, a green baseball jacket and a pair of white and black trainers.
He was joined by a host of fellow Love Island co-stars, including Tom Clare, Casey O’Gorman and Joe Garratt.
His outing comes just days after Sammy and Jess confirmed their split.
But it appeared that the break-up was one-sided, with Sammy releasing a statement on Instagram saying he wanted to salvage the relationship.
He wrote: “Hi guys, I thought I would come online to address today’s news about me and Jess. Yes we had a private conversation regarding our relationship but this was left up in the air as Jess is still away and we haven’t had a chance to speak in person.
“For me to then see today via the media that we had officially broken up came as a total shock.”
Sammy continued: “To be totally clear – I at least wanted a face to face conversation to see if our relationship could be saved and felt this would be a respectful way forward.
“We had the most incredible experience winning Love Island and I genuinely saw a future with Jess. I was committed and respectful to our relationship. Unfortunately things don’t always work out the way you’d hoped.”
He concluded the statement: “Despite how this has all played out today, I think Jess is an amazing woman and genuinely wish her all the best.”
Jess confirmed the news by removing Sammy from her social media.
Eagle-eyed fans have spotted how the star has removed pinned posts of her and 22-year-old Sammy from her Instagram.
He’s also been axed from her story highlights.