Strictly star HRVY breaks silence on dating Emmerdale’s Mimi Slinger and reveals why he’s selling million-pound mansion
POP star HRVY revealed his Emmerdale actress girlfriend Mimi Slinger encouraged him to shave his head for his new music video.
The 24-year-old, who finished second on Strictly Come Dancing with Janette Manrara in 2019, took a trimmer to his own scalp and debuted a bold new look for the Stolen Heart video.
While getting rid of his floppy hair was a big decision, HRVY loves the result and, more importantly, so does Mimi.
In an exclusive interview, he said: “I thought I’ve always wanted to do it, let’s just do it. I’ve always wanted shorter hair, it’s so much easier.
“She loved it. She’s the one that wanted me to do it more than I did. I guess it makes me look more of a man [laughs].”
The couple got together in April 2022 after HRVY – real name Harvey Leigh Cantwell – was left mesmerised by Mimi at the National Television Awards.
Fast forward a year and, last week, they arrived at the same ceremony hand in hand looking very much still in the honeymoon phase.
HRVY puts their relationship success partly down to them both having careers in the entertainment business.
“It’s all balanced nicely, actually,” he said. “She’s in Ireland right now shooting a pilot for something, which is really cool. We get to see each other all the time. It’s a nice balance and because we’re both in the industry we both understand, so it’s easy.”
Having similar interests also helps, and HRVY admitted they can often be found singing around his million-pound Kent mansion.
He said: “She sings as well. We sing at home, but I don’t think we’d ever release anything together. She loves to sing so we definitely do annoy everyone in the house.”
The stunning property, which HRVY designed on computer game MInecraft, is just down the road from his childhood home.
Even though he remains proud of the project and has only lived in the house for two years, HRVY is already looking at putting it on the market to fund a major move into London.
He explained: “I love property. I was lucky to be able to build my own house in lockdown.
“I’m actually maybe looking to sell it because I want to move into London. A bit of a backwards move going from a house to an apartment but I feel like why not go for it, you know.”
Expanding on his reasons why, he continued: “Yeah, lifestyle/career focus, definitely. I get to go to the studio more, mingle more. I’m actually going to view a flat on Monday [today] so we’ll see.”
It remains to be seen if his dream car, a £78,000 Lotus Emira, will follow him to the capital.
The flash sports car is currently out of action having broken down just months after HRVY bought it.
“It’s awful,” he said. “It’s been in the garage and I won’t get it back until November. Broken down already. I mean, it’s a great car when it does work and I’m driving it, but unfortunately, yeah, not good.”
Not only is HRVY changing where he lives, he’s also in the process of giving his sound a major overhaul.
The bulk of his work to date, including his latest single, are catchy upbeat pop numbers.
But the social media star is keen to explore deeper themes and a more intense sound.
He said: “I feel like this was, in my eyes, my last pop thing. I definitely now want to move on from that kind of music. I wanted to release something before I did that.
“People love the fun stuff. I mean, I love the fun stuff, but now as I’m getting older I want to venture into a new place, I suppose. This was a really nice thing to release, and I know my fans really enjoy this kind of stuff.
“It’s not going to be super depressing, but something with a bit more heart to it, I suppose, that has a bit more of a story to it.
“I love Olivia Rodrigo and all those kind of people, so almost like a male version of that. I’ve never released anything piano ballady et cetera, it’s always been fun pop stuff.”
Another inspiration is Harry Styles, with HRVY saying: “He’s definitely someone I’m inspired by, definitely with his sound, as well, that’s going to influence stuff I release further down the line.”
It could well be a smart move as US singer Olivia is currently outselling the rest of the UK top 10 combined with her track Guts and Harry is, well, a global phenomenon.