Second Love Island couple in shock split – just days after being dumped from the villa
Love Islanders Leah Taylor and Montel McKenzie have split up just two weeks after being dumped from the villa.
The pair have decided to “just be friends” after Leah, 27, quickly realised that it wouldn’t work on the outside world with the 25-year-old, who has already returned to footballer training.
The news comes just hours after we revealed that Catherine Abaje and Elom had also called it quits.
Leah, 27, said: “Our time in the villa was absolutely incredible, but we’ve actually decided to just be friends.
“We get on really well and I do really like him, but I feel like for me it’s never enough. I’m obviously looking for someone long-term and shares the same values and morals as me.
“I know I’m someone who has very, very high standards, but I feel like there’s just certain things in people that I’m not able to overlook.
“I’m glad we built a really good connection while we were there and I know that we’re always going to be friends, but in terms of romantic; we’ve decided to end things.”
The pair sparked up a romance in the villa after both coming in as separate bombshells.
While things were going well between them, they hit a rough patch during Casa Amor after Montel admitted to kissing someone else.
The two lovebirds patched things up though and remained together up until their dumping earlier this month.
Leah went on to note that things are different in the outside world compared to being in the villa.
She said: “I feel like life is a lot different in [the villa] and outside here. A lot more things come up and different situations happen, so it’s just like, you know – once we’d spoken about it, we agreed that maybe it’s not how we thought it would be.
“It’s sad, but at the same time I know we’re both on the same page. I’m grateful I met him and I wouldn’t have wanted my Love Island experience to be any different.
“I know I have high standards and I wouldn’t want to pressure him. I just know our characters are different and it wasn’t going to work. I wasn’t going to pretend and I’ll definitely always be honest with him.”
Fans had grown concerned about the pair after noticing they hadn’t been spending any time together since leaving the villa.
Montel already put his football boots back on and returned to the pitch for Hemel Hempstead, while Leah has been spotted out and about in Manchester.
But Montel gushed about Leah shortly after leaving – revealing he wanted her to meet his family.
He told The Sun: “She will definitely meet my family, she might meet my family next week, she’ll meet my sister. And I’ll meet her family too when I’m in London.”
He added: “We have a lot planned – I have big plans for her. She’s going to be treated like a princess.”
Leah is no stranger to singledom after having broken up from her ex in December 2022. Prior to that, she’s been single for four years.
She now hopes the next person she dates is the person she goes on to marry.
Leah said: “I’ve been single since December 2022, and then before that for four years before as well – I’m not just going to break [being single] if it’s not absolutely everything that I want.
“The next guy I’m getting with best believe I’m going to marry him, so he needs to be the perfect one.
“I’ve had quite a fair share of single life. I’m not the type of person to put my time and energy into a relationship unless it’s absolutely everything that I want.
“I don’t get into relationships for fun – I put my time into people I can see building a whole future with, so I definitely wouldn’t give my time to the wrong person.”
While Leah’s romance with Montel didn’t work out, she has high hopes for the remaining Islanders and shared her predictions for the upcoming final on Monday.
She said: “My predictions are that Ty and Ella will be first, Whitney and Lochan second, Sammy and Jess third and Molly and Zach fourth.”