Social media can be a place of filters, toned bodies and picture-perfect smiles, so it’s refreshing to see Love Island’s Liberty Poole using her platform to show a more realistic view.
After suffering with insecurities for years, the 23-year-old has started sharing more realistic images of herself to her 1.1 million followers in a bid to help others accept themselves, too.
“I remember going on Instagram when I was around 14 and seeing all these stunning girls who looked perfect, and even then as a young girl I never felt beautiful enough,” she explains.
“I always wanted to improve myself in some way and I think that followed me throughout my teens. I remember looking in the mirror, thinking, ‘My nose is so big’, and I never used to feel as pretty as these girls on social media. That toxic habit worsened when I got cheated on, so now I feel so passionate about it because I never want a girl to come on to my page and feel bad about themselves.”
Since leaving the show in 2021, Liberty says she has gained a dress size or two – going from a size 6/8 to a size 10 – and she now shares her real figure in a bid to normalise different bodies.
She explains, “Since coming out of Love Island I have put on a little bit of weight. I’ve been so busy, I’ve been eating on-the-go and not making the healthiest choices, so naturally I’ve put on some weight. But I think it’s important we’re not hard on ourselves and embrace our bodies.”
Liberty’s journey to self-acceptance started when she came out of the show and noticed people were fixated on her looks.
“Quite often when people would see me they’d say, ‘You’re so much prettier in person’, or, ‘You look a lot skinnier in real life than you did on the show’,” she says. “I started to worry and think, ‘What did I look like on the show?’ Then I was at the airport one day and I wasn’t wearing make-up, I had someone shout at me, saying that I’d gone downhill, and say, ‘What’s happened to you?’ It really upset me and I thought, either I can let this get me down or I can go on social media and be real about it and say, ‘Look, this is me’,and that’s what I did. I got a huge positive response and something clicked and I thought, ‘I want to spread this positive message about self-acceptance and self-love’. Of course I still love getting glammed up, but it’s about showing different sides to you and opening up when you’re lacking confidence.”
Now, after years of insecurity and body dysmorphia, Liberty – who has also launched Instagram TV series Second Skin, where she delves into topics such as body confidence with a different guest each week – has vowed to not alter her body shape on social media.
“I look back at the way I edited my pictures before Love Island and it was so extreme,” she explains. “Being an influencer, you’ve got to make sure the quality of your photo is good, but changing your figure or your skin tone like I was – to look more tanned – or shrinking your nose, is so toxic. We get so accustomed to editing our pictures we forget what we actually look like. I think it’s so important for me, having a platform, to spread awareness. I want people to love themselves a little bit more.”
On the show, Liberty was coupled with water engineer Jake Cornish. Viewers saw them fall in love on screen and become a couple, before splitting on the show and agreeing to leave the villa together, deciding they were better as friends. Viewers saw Liberty tell Jake, ‘I just don’t feel you love me for me’. Then, during the Movie Night task, she was devastated to see a clip of Jake saying he “didn’t 100% want to rip her clothes off”. But she says the journey she went on in Love Island was key to her self-confidence.
Liberty – who was photographed hanging out with A-lister Margot Robbie at the Barbie premiere last week – says, “I was masking a lot of insecurities on the show. I realised I never expected the guy I was with to really fancy me, which is why on the show you see how much Movie Night deeply affected me. I have been cheated on in the past and had things said to me like, ‘Your personality is amazing, Lib, but I could get better-looking than you’. When I went on the show I went through a journey of choosing to love myself. It was a key moment for me.”
And Liberty reveals that she is currently single – and in no rush to meet the right man, saying, “I used to be looking for love and validation. Now I’m at the point in my life where I’m open to it, but I’m so focused on me and my career and securing my future. If a man wants to slot into that, then be my guest, I’m sure it will happen at the right time. For now, I’m focusing on being a boss babe!”
