She rose to fame in 2017 as Love Island’s feisty bad girl. But eight years on and Olivia Attwood is settled down, happily married, and has carved out a stellar career as a TV presenter and podcaster. And now the former ring girl, 33, is back on our screens with her brand-new show Olivia Attwood’s Bad Boyfriends.
Before she tied the knot with footballer Bradley Dack, 30, last summer, the documentary maker was out there in the dating trenches, and is now keen to help a new generation of women make-over their messy men on her new show. The programme follows a group of eight men who think they’re about to star on a reality show on the ultimate lads’ holiday, but they’ve actually been submitted by their long-suffering girlfriends, who are desperate for them to reform their ways.
Now, Closer catches up with Olivia to talk partying, cheating, and the joys of getting older…
Hi, Olivia! You’ve been with a fair few bad boyfriends in your time…
I’ve dated every loser you can imagine, from cheating, to lying, to mummy’s boy. You name it. I’ve had it.
Have you ever been a bad girlfriend?
For sure. I would be completely ignorant in saying no. I’ve had bad boyfriends, but I definitely have been a royal pain in the arse. I definitely used to push the boundaries of acceptable behaviour.
In what ways?
I was a flirt, I was a party girl. I was far from perfect. I’m not proud of it, but I’m not going to pretend that I was an angel because I definitely wasn’t.
What made you want to change?
I think it’s motivation. If you love someone and you want a certain kind of life, you are motivated to behave in a way that supports that life. As you get older, you just learn that certain things are going to make your life really difficult and really stressful and icky.
You’re really here for the women on Olivia Attwood’s Bad Boyfriends. Do you think of yourself as a girls’ girl?
I am a girls’ girl through and through. It’s not that I don’t like men – I mean, I like gay men, I like my husband. But I’m always one for sticking up for the girls. My DMs are full of female fans, podcast listeners, messaging me for advice.
What advice would you have been dishing out in your party girl days?
Seven years ago, I’d have been like, ‘If your boyfriend upsets you, turn your phone off, go missing for two days, go snog a randomer in a club.’ Tit for tat can be fun in the moment, but it’s not going to get you anywhere if you’re trying to sort something.
You had Bradley on the podcast recently and said he was your most requested guest. What took so long?
This is such a lame answer, but literally scheduling – which is just mental, considering we’re married!
You spoke to him about some messy timelines and cheating when you first dated in 2015. Did he expect you to bring that up?
No, you could tell by his little face. He was cool about it, but he was like, ‘You know what people are like, why are you bringing up the past?’ And I was like, ‘Because it’s the past to us, but the timeline is important to the listeners.’ They want to know the facts, so I’m gonna give it.
Is it something you ever bring up in your private life?
To be honest, it hasn’t been mentioned in years. But compared to a lot of couples, we talk about our pasts and exes. That would never be an argument for us.
You had Katie Price on the podcast just before she was arrested. How was she?
Really fine. I saw her literally two days before she went to Turkey. She didn’t mention anything about her legal troubles because they’re obviously very personal, but she was in really good spirits. You wouldn’t have known that she had all that stuff looming over her. Jeez, you really wouldn’t.
You started appearing on Loose Women last year. How has that been?
I do all my shows on my own, so it’s very nice to be part of a team on Loose Women, a collaborative thing. The women really made me feel welcome and I didn’t know if it’d be like that. I was a little bit nervous at first, but they were really, really nice.
Has working with them changed your attitudes to getting older?
I think I fear looking older because I’m a skincare queen. But getting older has actually always excited me because every age I get to is my new favourite age. Like, my 20s were false advertising, it was a f**king hot mess from start to finish. The 30s have been good to me so far, so I’m only excited for what’s to come.
Olivia Attwood’s Bad Boyfriends, Sunday 1 September, 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.