It was recently revealed that Love Island’s Matilda Draper would be joining the cast of TOWIE, following in the footsteps of previous Islanders like Jon Clark, Elma Pazar and Olivia Attwood, who have all joined the ITVBe show after leaving the villa.
‘But Matilda’s not even from Essex,’ we hear you cry and although that may be true, she is currently in a relationship with Essex’s very own Roman Hackett. The Love Island 2024 star confirmed she was dating Roman last year and they filmed their first scenes together last month.
Ahead of her debut TOWIE appearance, Matilda has spoken out her relationship with Roman exclusively with Closer and it can’t just be us who’s detecting a bit of shade towards her villa ex Sean Stone…
They may have only been together for three months, but Matilda and Roman are basically inseparable at this point and have already admitted they’re ‘in love’.
Matilda said, ‘We have spent so much time around each other. Also, I feel like neither of us have been like this with someone else. All of my friends see Ro as one of their friends. They love him to bits. All your family and my family are really close and it is really nice. It is really lovely.’
Speaking about her split from Sean, the former recruitment consultant continued, ‘I broke up with Sean a month after we left the villa. Before that my ex was two years ago. When you come out [of the villa] is when you know who people are in real life rather than in this bubble. You know if it is going to work or not.’
See, we told you it was shady.
But, according to Matilda, she and Sean are ‘on good terms’. She explained, ‘It is so intense and so unique. Everyone in that series ... it is such a specific connection. I don't have a bad word to say about any of them.
‘You really do get to know people you wouldn't even necessarily get on with, but you really get to know people there so well. You love them even though you are so different.’
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Nathan Katnoria is heat and Closer online’s senior digital writer. He became obsessed with Love Island when Malin Andersson came back to confront Terry Walsh in series two and hasn’t looked back since. When he’s not interviewing former Islanders, Nathan is scrolling through their Instagram feeds for relationship updates and piping hot tea.