Samira Mighty speaks out about trolls, her relationship with Chris Pine and what happened in the Hideaway

Samira Mighty captured our hearts on Love Island this summer with her bubbly personality and infectious laughter. Here, she opens up about her friendship with Megan, her future with Frankie and whether she was part of the Do Bits Society…

How did you feel when Dani and Jack won Love Island?
‘Oh, I had tears in my eyes! Dani’s one of my best friends and I knew they were going to win.’

Do you think you’ll see Dani on the outside?
‘Yeah! She literally just texted me actually. She was like, “can’t wait to see you Sunday [for the Reunion Party]. Miss you” and I was like, “miss you!”‘

You also seemed close to Megan and you defended her in the villa. What did you think of her actions when you were in there?
‘She’s just a girl who likes to flirt, you know. She loves a little bit of attention. I mean, if I looked like that, I would want everyone to look at me. And I think she did a few things because she felt like it. As a woman you shouldn’t be afraid – if you want to have sex with someone that day, you should. If a guy did it, nobody would bat an eyelid.

But when Megan did do something wrong – for instance, when she kissed Deano – I got up straightaway and I ran to her. I was like, “Meg, mate, you fancy Alex – you don’t fancy Dean – why did you just kiss?” Then I was like, “You need to control your lips, girl!” But now what she’s got with Wes is beautiful and it’s 100% real.’

When you were in the villa, a lot of viewers complained you didn’t get enough air time. Why do you think that was?
‘I have no idea. I mean, I don’t think I’m boring – I think I need my own show to be honest with you! But a lot of the time when I was in there, I was with Alex obviously and that was a friendship couple.

But when Frankie came in… I’ve watched it back and I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit like “huh?” Because it’s such a shame – Frankie was such a crucial part of Love Island and for me.’

What were some of the key bits that we missed from you and Frankie?
‘I mean, the Hideaway. To be fair, nothing even happened – we were probably really boring. I was probably like, “ah, mate, I’m really tired. This is nice.”‘

So you weren’t part of the Do Bits Society then?
‘No! But it was just really good because when we got the text saying we’ve got the Hideaway, everyone was like, “Frankie and Samira!” For me, no-one has really been on my side like that with love and relationships. It was a really big moment in the villa.

All the girls were getting me ready because I usually wear a baggy t-shirt and trackies. And the girls were like, “Right, Samira, it’s time to put silky pyjamas on and get in there!” It was actually really funny from what I remember and the fact that they didn’t put that in and they put other people’s in all the time because they had sex… There’s nothing wrong with sex but I didn’t do that.’

You say the girls gave you a makeover for the Hideaway, but we have to know: did experts come into the villa to paint the girls’ nails? They always looked immaculate!
‘We only had it once and that was like four weeks in or something like that. We had nail varnish and stuff and Georgia always brought her stick-on nails, so we always did stuff ourselves. And obviously Laura’s a hairdresser and a few of the girls are quite talented at makeup. Dani went to me, “oh we’re just not like this, are we Sam?”‘

What made you decide to leave the villa?
‘I wasn’t in there for the money, I wasn’t in there for the fame, I was in there because I wanted to find something. And I found that.

When Frankie went it was just like “oh, here we go again.” I was literally sat there on a day bed with toasties every five minutes cos I was like, what else am I going to do? The last two days before I left I was sleeping on the sofa with Dr Alex and I thought, “I’m back at square one, I’ve got to leave this joint!”‘

Have you read over the tweets and memes of your time in the villa?
‘I haven’t read any tweets, no. I know there’s going to be some weird ones – like, someone the other day called me ‘obese head’ and I thought it was well funny. So I’m quite alright with stuff like that, like trolls and whatnot. It was funny.’

How did you feel when you left the villa and heard those rumours that Frankie had cheated on you the night before you left?
‘I said to him it was a very silly thing to do because obviously we’re in the public eye now. But as long as he didn’t do it, that’s all I care about.’

What did he tell you had happened?
‘He just went out and obviously he was drunk and his friend wanted to get with this girl and he had a room. And then he fell asleep and they did their thing and she left. So her story was weird because I don’t know about the manager – he wasn’t there. He didn’t even have a manager at the time. So strange.’

What made you believe Frankie and stay with him?
‘Because I do believe him and I do trust him. And he knows I am a very strong girl – if anything like that ever happens again and I hear about it, I’m not going to have it. So I’ve just come out the villa and I want to see how things go and ever since then everything’s been fine.’

What do you think is in the future for you two?
‘Well, we’re obviously boyfriend and girlfriend now. And, like we did in the villa, we take things day by day. We’re not having babies, we’re not getting married. So everyone chill out on that!’

Frankie owns a gym in Cheltenham. Would you ever consider moving there?
‘No. 100% no. It’s nice but I’m a London girl, you know? I’ve always been born and bred here – my family’s all up here so there would be no point in me moving to Cheltenham.’

Do you think he’ll move a bit closer to London in the future then?
‘I’m not sure. Maybe. But it’s easy because I’m going to get my flat soon, so whenever he’s in London he can stay with me. So it’s like living together but it’s not.’

In the villa you mentioned that you dated Chris Pine. What happened there?
‘I met him at an after-party with GQ magazine and I’d actually just broken up with my boyfriend and I thought, “you want to take me out on a date? Okay!”

But I was actually going through a really bad time in my life with my ex-boyfriend and stuff. So I felt so weird. But we’re just mates now.’

You and Chris Pine are mates?
‘Yeah. Like, I haven’t spoken to him in a while because I don’t know if he wants me to or not! But we used to chat sometimes and when he was in London maybe he’d be like, “Oh, can I see you?” and I’d be like, “I can’t, I’m so busy,” because obviously I was in the show [Mamma Mia].

But it’s just the best rebound date in the world!’