Shaughna Phillips takes swipe at ‘creepy’ Love Island couples and insists show needs to make changes to survive
SHAUGHNA Phillips has shared her thoughts on the future of Love Island – and revealed what she thinks needs to change.
The 30-year-old shot to fame on Love Island in 2020 and, while she previously confessed she wouldn’t do the show again, Shaughna is still a huge fan.
But the mum-of-one thinks the show needs a minimum age for contestants – and admitted she “doesn’t like” when there’s big age gaps in the show couples.
During the recent Love Island All Stars spin-off, fans hit out at the age difference between Tom Clare, 24, and Arabella Chi, 33.
They also had a lot to say when Chris Taylor, 33, set his sights on Sophie Piper, 25.
While Shaughna didn’t name any specific examples, she told The Sun: “I don’t want to see a 29-year-old boy cracking on with a 19-year-old girl.
“It’s creepy. I don’t like it and I don’t want to watch it. Maybe the [minimum age] needs to be upped to 21.”
Shaughna continued: “The All Stars series was incredible and I do think it was the CPR that the show needed.
“But I think they need to branch out and widen their pool a little bit because I’m 30 and I don’t want to watch 19-year-olds chatting each other up because, to me, they’ve not even lived yet – and a 19-year-old is still a child.
“They need older people, maybe some who have kids. But when they’re really young, in my opinion, it’s boring. When I was on Love Island I was 25 and I was one of the oldest people, and that’s sad.”
She had arguably one of the most iconic moments of the 2020 winter series with just two words.
Shaughna was coupled up with Callum Jones when the villa was rocked by the classic Casa Amor twist.
While she remained loyal, Callum returned to the main villa with Molly Smith, causing Shaughna to tell her: “Congrats, hun.”
The shady remark from Shaughna went viral on social media – much like when 2022’s Andrew Le Page confessed to licking Coco Lodge‘s “t*t” – and she couldn’t believe the reaction after leaving the show.
She said: “It was insane. I said that one line and never thought about it again.
Age-gap Islanders
Arabella and Tom
When Arabella Chi, 33, entered the All Stars villa this year, she and Tom Clare, 24, went on a date and it was revealed they had previous history.
Chris and Sophie
Sophie Piper, 25, was another All Stars latecomer and Chris Taylor, 33 – despite being coupled up with Arabella – quickly set his sights on her.
Liv and Haris
Last year fans got the ick last year when Liv Hawkins, who was 27, coupled up with then 21-year-old Haris Namani.
Gemma and Davide
During a break from Luca Bish in the 2022 series, Gemma Owen – who was 19 at the time – coupled up with Italian stallion Davide, then 27.
“And then I came out and everyone was like, ‘Oh my god, when you said congrats, hun’. I was like, ‘Really? I was dropping one liners every hour and that’s the one you cling onto?’
“I remember coming out and people telling me there were tops in Primark with it on and I was just thinking, ‘are you joking?’ I should have trademarked it but I was too busy trying to breathe! But thank god I said it.”