Love Island’s Tasha Ghouri reveals plans to move abroad with boyfriend Andrew
LOVE Island’s Tasha Ghouri has revealed she wants to move abroad with boyfriend Andrew Le Page.
The smitten couple, who are currently renting in East London, met on last summer’s Love Island and managed to finish in fourth place.
They have stood the test of time and have no doubts they’ll have a long and happy future together.
That future could potentially see them trading the UK for sunnier climes, like Tasha’s dad, Tarek, who lives in Spain, and her brother, Alexander, who lives in Australia.
In an exclusive interview during Deaf Awareness Week, Tasha, 23, said: “We’d definitely love to move abroad at some point, maybe when we’re a bit older in our late 30s or 40s. We do want to have our first home in the countryside here somewhere on the outskirts of London.
“We’d love to move abroad at some point because I feel like you want that sunshine.”
Tasha can’t speak highly enough of Andrew, 27, and how he has effortlessly adapted to her needs; she was born deaf and has had a cochlear implant, a small electronic device that allows wearers to process sound and speech, since the age of five.
She said: “He’s adapted amazingly. Sometimes he’ll change my batteries for me. If I’m so tired and fall asleep on the sofa, he completely understands. He understands the headaches I deal with, and he’s there for me. He knows I’ve grown up with this for years, ever since I was born, he knows that I’m quite independent in that area and he knows how to support that. He’s been so accepting.”
The trailblazing star has also spoken about the ableism she faced in the Love Island villa after becoming the show’s first ever deaf contestant.
Tasha struggled with her emotions at times and clashed with co-stars Luca Bish and Dami Hope in uncomfortable scenes.
What many watching at home, as well as the other islanders living inside the villa, didn’t realise at the time was the difficulty Tasha was having trying to balance her disability with living life 24/7 in view of the cameras.
Tasha recalled the moment she was announced for the show, saying: “Me going on the show was a groundbreaking moment for the TV industry, especially for a show like Love Island. It was like a moment that shook the whole earth, that’s what it felt like.”
Though Tasha’s disability, which she refers to as her superpower, made positive headlines and raised the profile of the deaf community in the days leading up to the show, once inside the villa it wasn’t discussed as much as Tasha would have liked.
As a result, her fellow islanders failed to understand her individual needs which escalated tensions between Tasha, boyfriend Andrew Le Page and his friends.
She said: “I was painted out to be this girl who’s not a great person, at the start. When I look back it was annoying for me because I couldn’t say to the cameras ‘this is why I’m feeling this and that’, and I feel that got manipulated in some ways. I wasn’t being dramatic. I wasn’t being over the top or making drama for no reason. I was exhausted and being in the sun all day as well it is a lot. I wish that was highlighted more 100 per cent.”
She continued: “On the show, going to sleep at 3 or 4am, waking up just before lunch, we’re so sleep deprived and we’re always having to have conversations. That’s why a lot of the time I was quite emotional because I was going through my own stuff at the time, having to listen to conversations, lip-reading; it really does take it out of you. That’s why by the end of the night I was so out of it.
“We didn’t really have that place to escape to. There wasn’t a place I could go and be emotional, cry my eyes out and just nap to get my energy back. Maybe that’s something they could change.”