As Love Island 2021 kicks off for a new series, Caroline Culot spoke to former contestant, Norwich's Sam Bird.
Sam, 28, appeared on Love Island in 2018. He was at the time the owner of a Norwich gym and experienced a rather dramatic time on the TV show, finally being paired with Georgia Steel.
The pair exited in equally dramatic style, refusing to couple up with other contestants but they split up shortly after leaving the TV show.
Sam went on to appear on the American version of TV's Ex on the Beach but was equally unlucky in love in that. However, soon after he started dating Kailah Casillas - and later popped the question.
So, is there life after Love Island? It certainly seems so.
Speaking from Norwich, where he is currently doing up a property with Kailah, Sam said his love life has taken a very positive turn.
"I went to the US just before the pandemic after I met my fiancee and got stuck. We spent lockdown together and found we got on. It was intense but after lockdown she came over to England.
"I decided if you are potentially going to change your life for someone that I should make a commitment to her, as she was prepared to leave her life in the US and come to England for me. So I proposed.
"We'd like to get married in 2023. I don't want a Covid wedding, I went to my uncle's wedding recently, it was his third so I don't think he minded about the restrictions, but I would like to be able to dance. I'm hoping when I get married it will be the only time so I want to be able to have dancing."
Sam sold his Core Fitness gym after he came out of Love Island and originally moved away.
"I moved out of Norwich, because the work was in London. It started with meet and greets at nightclubs and I then developed those into DJ nights. I'd always been able to work as a DJ but this gave me a new career path.
"So I sold the gym on and left the fitness behind and went into full music production and got signed with a record deal. The last year I haven't been able to DJ because of Covid. I've always been an entrepreneur though.
"I now produce songs by bringing in a vocalist. I did one with an unsigned artist and have a new track coming out with someone well known but I can't say who.
"But I'm hoping it will be the song of the summer."
He added: "So, when my fiancee and I got back from the US, we thought, 'what are we going to do?' and we decided to buy a fixer-upper in Norwich city centre, and transform it into an Airbnb. So we've been living in it. It made sense to be in Norwich, close to family.
"It has been stressful as we have done everything ourselves so I have had to learn from YouTube such as how to put in a fireplace. It's a Victorian property and we have taken out walls to make it open plan inside."
Sam has also set up his own agency helping social media influencers make contacts.
"Being in a show like Love Island helped me and I now manage influencers myself, help them get their first fashion deals, there are a lot of bad managers out there, and it's not really seen as a real job but it is.
"Love Island definitely gives you opportunities. After the show, I did Ex on the Beach and that introduced me to the American world of TV and led me to meet my fiancee. So if it hadn't been for Love Island, we probably would never have met.
"I always felt I would get doors opened but being on a show like Love Island gives you a big step up, it speeds up the process. So, I might watch Love Island 2021 to see if there is anyone I can sign up for my influencer agency."
He also said he thought there was a lot more help now for people after they had left the show.
"I have been contacted a couple of times by the Love Island team and there is help available. I haven't really taken it because I can get through my mental health problems but I have been called a couple of times."
And how about Georgia and the other contestants from Love Island?
"Georgia and I met on the Ex on the Beach again which was a bit embarrassing but we ended by saying: 'Look, it's all good and there are no hard feelings,' but we aren't in contact at all.
"But I've kept in touch with Dr Alex George, Adam Collard's a good friend and Jack Fincham."
Sam Bird factfile
Sam Bird from Norwich was on Season 4 of Love Island in 2018.
He entered the villa on Day 19 and was dumped from the island on Day 47.
While on Love Island, Sam was paired with Samira and Ellie before Georgia Steel. They both left after refusing to couple up with new people in a dramatic showdown exit.
Sam began dating American Kailah Casillas in early 2020. He popped the question to Kailah, who appeared on reality TV show The Challenge, during a romantic holiday in Greece.
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