NEW Love Island star Harriett Blackmore claims she has been single since January - despite spending the night with her 'boyfriend' just days ago.
The Sun told today how the dancer, 24, had told her unsuspecting man she 'loved' him before leaving him 'livid and hurt' when she popped up in the line-up.
Fans were quick to speculate about a secret boyfriend after Josh Curling, 25, appeared in a number of recent videos.
Speaking earlier today, before the truth about her relationship with Josh was revealed, Harriett insisted to The Sun: “I broke up recently with my boyfriend in January, so about four months ago.
"We remained in contact because we were together for such a long time."
But sources who know the couple said the self-styled “It” girl spent Friday night at Josh's house, where she gave him a scrapbook of photos from their relationship together and told him: "I love you."
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It is understood she dumped him later that evening over text, telling him: “I need time to focus on myself and what I’m doing.”
Her friends said she wanted to tell him that she was going on the show but never did.
But Harriett told the story rather differently, saying: "The break-up was quite out of the blue - we both had questions and we both wanted closure in that sort of sense.
"A lot of our lives were with each other...so we remained in contact but I definitely don’t have a boyfriend.
"He moved on with someone else, just to clear it up, we broke up in January.”
When asked why they split, she shared: "There was no big event that happened - he went away with his friends skiing and he came back and had broken up with me.
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"But at the time, he was travelling away for work a lot, so I wasn’t really seeing him.
"There wasn’t anything major that happened, it was just out of the blue.”
However sources say the pair were in fact still very close and working on getting things back on track before she signed up to the show behind his back.
A source said: “Josh had suspicions she was going on the show. She was going up to London and saying she was being interviewed for Pretty Little Thing.
“He asked if she was going on but at the time she said she would never go on Love Island.
“Josh feels like he’s been led down a garden path. He was in love and during their relationship they were talking about moving out and getting married.
"They had a good relationship but it fizzled out in January when they started arguing all the time. But they seemed to have been working on getting back to where they were."
During her chat with The Sun today, Harriett also confessed that Saffron - who starred on Strictly in 2019 - is "one of her best friends".
She said: "I told my nearest and dearest and my best friends. They were all really excited for me, Saff especially.
"We've known each other our whole entire lives, so we've dealt with every single obstacle that life has thrown at us.
"She's been there throughout all the break-ups, so I think she's really excited for me to meet a new guy.
"And hopefully I can bring him home and introduce him to her and all my friends too."
She added: "She told me to be myself and be the sparkly person you are and they'll love me.
"Neither of us have had much luck in love, so no dating tips but just said to be myself and show everyone who I am."
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Love Island returns to our screens on June 3, 2024 at 9pm. Episodes will then continue at the same time from Sunday to Friday.
Indiyah Polack, Amy Hart and Chris Taylor are set to host the Love Island: The Morning After podcast.
