It’s been over a year since the last series of Love Island, but it’s back with a bang – filling our evenings with bronzed hunks, bikini bodies and a whole lot of high-pitched drama.
But Carl Woods, who briefly appeared in the 2016 series, says the ITV2 show and its parade of gorgeous singletons no longer interest him after finding love with his fiancée Jordan – real name Katie Price – who he insists blows the Love Island girls out of the water.
“Katie is the ultimate woman – there’s nobody like her. She’s the British version of Pamela Anderson and she runs rings around the Love Island girls in every way,” he gushes from his Spanish getaway. The couple are spending time there after a trip to Turkey where Jordan, 43, had liposuction surgery on her legs ahead of their wedding, tipped for later this year.
With his megawatt smile and tanned six-pack, Carl, 32, starred on the second series of the hit dating show, which was one of the raunchiest and most successful years to date and catapulted stars like Kady McDermott, Olivia Bowen and Malin Andersson to fame.
After being approached to join the show out of the blue on London’s Oxford Street by producers, Carl appeared briefly as a “male bombshell”, but was sent home when he wasn’t picked to join the villa after a round of speed dating – something Carl says he’s still trolled over.
Now, however, he’s watching this series cuddled up on the sofa with his “dream girl” – and dismisses the show’s stars as “wannabe influencers” who are only “in it for the money”.
He says, “The Love Island girls today are a fame-hungry bunch and I don’t see the attraction. They aspire to be just like Katie but she worked hard for what she has – there was no quick fix. She didn’t leave the villa and gain one million followers overnight! Social media didn’t exist, and when she started modelling there were no Instagram filters.
“Everyone is just in it for the money now. When I did it, it was fairly early on, so the show felt a lot more genuine – although I was told which girls to talk to and ‘focus on’ when I went in. It’s so big now. Everyone who goes into it just wants to be famous. I feel like everyone is playing the fame game now and saying things they want people to hear. They’re not there to find love.”
But after meeting Jordan, who has been in the spotlight since her first topless modelling shoot at 18 and has been married to Peter Andre, Alex Reid and Kieran Hayler, Carl was thrust into the spotlight – something he says he expected but has found “difficult” after falling victim to online abuse.
Now, he offers a stark warning to Love Island contestants, advising them to be careful what they wish for, as life in the public eye can be overwhelming at times – despite how much they think they want it.
He says, “Sometimes Katie doesn’t understand how difficult it is, despite me only being well-known because I’m with her. People hurl abuse at you over nothing and you’ve got to take it on the chin. I don’t think they [the contestants] understand it.
“I saw last week that one of the new girls, Chloe, was even getting death threats already – it’s awful. But it’s great that Love Island put out a statement, encouraging people to think before they type.”
Check out: Katie Price's husbands and boyfriends - from Peter Andre to Alex Reid
CLOSER Katie Price husbands and boyfriends - SLIDER
1 of 21Warren Furman 1997 - 1999
One of Katie's lowest-profile relationships, she was engaged to Gladiators star Ace - real name Warren Furman – from 1997. The 47 year old was engaged to Jordan for two years, presenting her with a £3,500 diamond ring before they split in 1999.
2 of 21Warren Furman
Warren appeared on This Morning last year to speak about "crashing back down to the real world" after Gladiators ended in the late 90s. He is also a born again Christian, and exclusively told Closer, "I feel God is saying to me, 'Warren, Katie might listen'. She's caught up in materialistic things."
3 of 21Dane Bowers 1998 - 2000
Katie began dating Another Level (remember them?) singer Dane Bowers during her Jordan days in 1998. Katie has since spoken about how devasated she was after the pair split in 2000. She even revealed in the CBB house that she nearly committed suicide over it and confessed that Dane was the love of her life.
4 of 21Dane Bowers
After his smash hit 'Out of Your Mind' with Victoria Beckham (who Katie reportedly had a feud with) Dane went a bit quiet on the music scene. Fast forward to 2013 and he reformed with Another Level for The Big Reunion. More recently, Dane has been linked to Love Island star Laura Anderson, who he apparently ended up cheating on. He must have been out of his mind #sorrynotsorry
5 of 21Dwight Yorke 2000 - 2001
Katie dated the former Manchester United and Aston Villa footballer, Dwight Yorke. The pair dated for 18 months and had baby Harveytogether, who was born with autism and blindness.
6 of 21Dwight Yorke
Katie has spoken out many times about Dwight's reluctance to be a part of Harvey's life. She recently revealed that he hasn't seen his teenage son in over 10 years. Dwight has since had a second child with another woman, and he continues to work on international football projects.
7 of 21Gareth Gates 2001 - 2001
Baby face Gareth Gates shot to fame during Pop Idol in 2002. He started dating a pregnant Katie Price when he was 17, and was reportedly a virgin before they met.
8 of 21Gareth Gates
Gareth went on to star in The Big Reunion with another one of Katie's exes, Dane Bowers. Awkward. Katie has also said that she would totally go back 'there' with Gareth. Unfortunately for Katie, West End actor Gareth is now happily in a relationship with Corrie star Faye Brooke. In January 2019 it was reported that the pair were engaged.
9 of 21Matt Peacock 2001 - 2001
Former Corrie heartbreaker Matt Peacock stirred the infamous feud between Katie Price and model Jodie Marsh. He dated Jordan for a few months, then later married Jodie as part of Totally TV show Jodie Marsh: Who Will Take Her Up the Aisle?. They divorced three months later.
10 of 21Matt Peacock
Matt married an actress and model called Rachael in 2016. Bizarrely, his photos have also been used in quite a few catfishing incidents. But Katie recently started following Matt on Instagram - what can this mean?
11 of 21Peter Andre 2004 - 2009
The nation watched Peter Andre fall for Katie's charms on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2004. The pair then starred in a string of reality TV shows documenting their life after a fairytale wedding. They even released an album of duets, which we'd all rather just forget about. Katie and Peter had two children together, Junior and Princess, during their five years of marriage.
12 of 21Peter Andre
Things between Pricey and Peter have soured in the years following their split, after he blasted Katie for her 'wild' behaviour. Peter is now married to Emily MacDonagh, who Junior and Princess see as an older sister figure. Pete also landed himself a role in the next Thomas The Tank Engine film.
13 of 21Alex Reid 2009 - 2011
Katie married cage fighter Alex Reid less than seven months after splitting from Peter Andre. Their wedding was filmed for a TV show, but their marriage only lasted for 11 months. Katie has since admitted that it happened too soon after Peter.
14 of 21Alex Reid
Alex went on the star in Celebrity Big Brother and he continues to fight. He's been married to Nikki Manashe since 2013. Most recently, he has been involved in a sex tape allegation - claiming that Katie showed a group of people a video of him performing a sex act. Will the drama ever end? (We hope not.)
15 of 21Leandro Penna- 2011-2012
Katie got engaged to Leandro after a whirlwind romance shortly after splitting from Alex Reid - despite the couple barely being able to communicate thanks to his limited English and Katie's non-existent Spanish (former model Leandro hails from Argentina). Leo said of their split, "Katie's brain is not wired right, or the wires don't connect properly. I don't know what's wrong with her. I was thinking it over recently and one day decided to pack my bags and leave. There was nothing else I could do. She was driving me insane."
16 of 21Leandro Penna
Since splitting with KP, Leandro has quit fame to return to his native South America and now runs a successful avocado farm and business. Launching in October 2021 he said, "I present my new avocado venture @paltasroyal. Thanks to all the businesses that gave us confidence, to all the avocado-loving customers and to those merchants who have not yet bought them, do not hesitate."
17 of 21Kieran Hayler 2012 - 2018
It looked like Katie had a good thing going with Kieran Hayler and their two kids, Jett and Bunny. But Kieran had to go and ruin it by cheating on Katie with her nanny, two best friends (while she was pregnant), then again with a 19-year-old shop assistant. Katie kept taking him backbut she FINALLY called it quits in May 2018.
18 of 21Kieran Hayler
Kieran is now engaged to Michelle Pentecost, who he met at the school gates, and is a great dad to Jett and Bunny and Michelle's son from a previous relationship.
19 of 21Kris Boyson
Katie started dating personal trainer Kris Boyson within weeks of splitting from Kieran. She celebrated her 40th birthday with him and her family are said to have approved of him. Their relationship lasted a year before split rumours started to circulate, and the pair have been on and off-ing since September 2019.
20 of 21Kris Boyson
Kris is still posting insanely buff topless selfies (keep 'em coming, Kris) and his personal training business is thriving. After his split from Katie, he began dating Katie's former pal Bianca Gascoigne, much to Katie's dismay. The couple moved in together within days due to lockdown but split after nearly a year together, citing their hectic work schedules.
21 of 21Carl Woods - 2020
Could it be fourth time lucky? After months of speculation, Katie and Carl confirmed their engagement in April 2021.
Despite the sometimes unwanted attention, Carl says he feels grateful to have met Jordan when he did, and says his proposal in April, with a huge sparkler, was the “perfect time”.
He says, “If we had met at a different time we might not have worked out but now, I’m a lot more mature. When I was in my 20s there’s no way I would have wanted to take on kids or have had the mentality to do that. We met at the perfect time and it works.
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“I’m glad I didn’t find love on Love Island. I think I was always supposed to meet Katie, it’s fate. If we ever see a good-looking girl on the street, I’ll always tell her, ‘She’s got nothing on you’. I don’t see the attraction with these Love Island girls.”
Now the couple are busy planning their wedding, and Carl hopes Katie will fall pregnant this year, too.
“They’re our two main goals. We want to get married this year and for Katie to have a baby in the oven. We don’t want to be old parents so we’ll start IVF soon,” he says. “I just can’t wait for all of it!”
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