Since their triumphant victory on Love Island: All Stars earlier this year, Molly Smith and Tom Clare's relationship has gone from strength to strength. Three months since sparks first flew between them in the All Stars villa in South Africa, the couple have taken their romance to the next level, holidaying together and meeting each other's families. They're now eve living together, after the Macclesfield FC footballer moved out of the London pad he shared with his mate Casey O'Gorman to be with his girlfriend in Manchester.
"Tom is brilliant. He's absolutely amazing and has completely blown me away with how loving, kind and generous he is," Molly tells Closer. "He's the most perfect person, in my eyes. It's like being in a bubble at the moment. I'm really enjoying it."
Initially paired with her ex, Callum Jones, until Tom – from the ninth series – entered the villa, she admits she wasn't expecting to find love the second time around on the dating show. "I went in, thinking, 'I really hope I meet someone,' but I didn't expect to actually meet someone," she reveals. "I thought, 'I'll probably leave single after a week.' So when I met Tom, that was the cherry on top."
There's one thing that could test their relationship, though – their competitive streaks. Molly, who has launched her new fitness app, reckons she could match him if they worked out together.
"We're both competitive. We've not done a gym session together but I said to him, 'You're going to have to do one of my HIIT workouts with me'," she says. "I want to see if he can keep up with me and if I can put him through his paces. I'm not going to say I'm fitter than him, but I'll give him a run for his money. We'll see. This is going to be the make or break, I reckon. 'And I'll have to make sure that I get the proof that I win!"
Her Move With Molly app offers tailored gym and home workouts and nutrition plans for all levels. "I'm on a buzz, I'm very excited and happy that it's launched," she tells us. "I've always been so passionate about fitness, health and wellbeing and this has been long in the works."
With three elder brothers, Molly – who celebrated her 30th birthday last month in Dubai, Manchester, Las Vegas and LA – has followed their love of sport. "It's a running joke in my family," she explains. "My blazer was covered in all these badges because I was on all the sports teams at high school every year, from football, rounders and hockey to athletics and netball."
Her love of fitness has continued through the years. “I work out pretty much every day,” she says. “Last year I started running. I hated it at first but fell in love with it. I’m going to do a half marathon in October with my brothers – I got FOMO after seeing people do the London Marathon, so that may be on the cards!”
Molly even continued exercising while in the villa. “I used to run around the pool,” she recalls. “The most I did was 80 laps in one day!” Her love of exercise helped her bond with some of the other Islanders, too. “Georgia Harrison was amazing. We did a lot of sessions together,” she tells us. “Arabella [Chi] as well and Anton [Danyluk] used to wake me up in the mornings to go down and do gym sessions.”
Since leaving the villa, Molly has stayed in touch with a lot of her Islander pals. She is “super close” to Arabella and Sophie Piper, who was in the sixth series with her. “Arabella and I do some workout sessions when she comes up to Manchester, and Sophie and I have seen each other outside the villa,” she says. “All the girls are amazing. I got on with all of them, they’re all such a nice bunch. There wasn’t anyone that I didn’t get along with, so it was a really nice experience.”
Her advice for this year’s batch of contestants? “Have no expectations, enjoy the whole process and completely be yourself. If you are authentically you, there’s nothing that anyone can take from you,” she says.
Since being crowned the winners of All Stars, Molly’s career has taken off. As well as launching her app, she has signed deals with Boohoo, Abbott Lyon, L’Oréal and Maybelline and supplement brand Alani Nu. As she embraces her new decade, she’s looking forward to stepping in front of the cameras again.
“I’d absolutely love to do Strictly. I used to make my dad dance me around the living room,” she tells us. “I love a good challenge so anything that challenges me physically, I’d give it my all – I like the look of SAS: Who Dares Win or I’m A Celebrity!”
With summer just around the corner, don’t miss your chance to achieve your fitness goals with Move With Molly at www.mwmplan.com