She had her heart broken on national TV in 2018, when her then-boyfriend Wes Nelson dumped her in the Love Island villa.
But four years on and Laura Anderson has found her Mr Right in singer and DJ Dane Bowers. And while Dane, 42, is yet to propose, 33-year-old Laura says she’s already planning their wedding.
“I would have the biggest wedding that I could afford, and I would definitely get married in Dubai because you don’t have to worry about the weather,” she tells Closer. “Dane will have some celebrity groomsmen, but I would choose friends who I have known for a long time to be my bridesmaids – though I’d definitely invite people from the industry who I have met more recently.”
Dane – who dated Katie Pricefor two years from 1998 – and Laura first sparked a romance in 2017 before she appeared on _L_ove Island. They rekindled their relationship three years later, but have split a few times since – most recently when they reportedly took a break last September.
Now reunited, they’re happily loved-up and living in Dubai.
“We’ve been living together for about a year,” says Laura. “I would never have moved here and moved in with him if I didn’t want to get married.
“So we talk about it all the time, but we’ve got some stuff that we want to achieve first – we still need to go on our first romantic holiday, so we’re going to Mykonos in the summer for a friend’s wedding.
“I think an engagement would be first, and we’ve been trying to have a baby. They say things happen in threes so I think everything will happen... but we’re still young – well, I am anyway!”
Laura was a fan favourite on the fourth series of Love Island. Battling heartache when Wes dumped her for fellow contestant Megan Barton-Hanson, the former air-hostess eventually came fourth behind winners Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham when she found love with carpenter Paul Knops.
The pair split just over a month later but Laura’s career went from strength to strength, with lucrative brand deals thanks to her 1.4m Instagram followers.
Looking back, she says her time on the hit ITV2 show is one of the best things she’s done – and if she was single, she’d do it again in a heartbeat.
“Of course, I’d go on the show again!” she laughs. “It would be so different going back in and knowing what I know now. You get so wrapped up in the drama, but you need to be positive even when you feel like the world is ending.
“In terms of my job, I think nowadays, people are more aware of what an ‘influencer’ is. It was such a new thing before, and it’s sometimes hard to respect something you don’t understand – but content creators are an actual job now in major brands, and they’re paid a fortune. I must say I find it difficult and mind-numbingly annoying to sit and edit videos and photos of myself for hours, but the best thing about my job is all the free stuff… I haven’t bought a Christmas present in four years!”
Love Island is set to return to our screens in June, with pictures last week revealing the brand new villa being prepped.
Laura Whitmore is set to return as host, while rumoured contestants include Turkish actress Ekin-Su Cülcüloglu, former Aston Villa WAG Sophie Draper, and Brad McDermott – brother of Laura’s season four co-star, Zara McDermott.
And Laura’s keen to share her pearls of wisdom for the new intake.
“Don’t overthink it,” she says. “It’s hard because you’re so engrossed in the whole thing, but just be selfish and do everything for you each day. Enjoy it and be open-minded – you might usually go for a certain type, but you’re on there because you can’t get a date! So broaden your horizons and try something new.”
Laura on her wedding guest list:
Chrishell Stause
I recently met the Selling Sunset star when we took part in Celebrity Karaoke Club. She was amazing! I don’t know her well enough yet to have her on the wedding guest list, but who knows? I’d love to go to LA and catch up with her.
Chloe Sims
I loved being on the karaoke show with Chloe – she was teaching Chrishell a lot of funny English slang words – it was hilarious! She’s a lovely girl. I would invite her, and [fellow TOWIE star] Bobby Norris, to my wedding.
Celebrity Karaoke Club will return to ITV2 and ITV Hub this summer
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