LOVE Island star Megan Forte Clarke has revealed how she and boyfriend Conor Phillips plan to spend their first Christmas together.
have moved into their first home, trading their previous pads in Brighton and Dublin, respectively, for London.
Megan Forte Clarke is living with her Love Island boyfriend Conor PhillipsCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
The villa couple upped sticks for LondonCredit: Instagram
But they won’t be ringing in December 25th in their new pad, instead they’ll be back on the Emerald Isle with their nearest and dearest.
“We’re heading back to Ireland, of course,” said Megan in an exclusive interview. “We haven’t decided what we’re going to do Christmas Day, but I think it might be half a day, one family, half a day, another kind of thing.”
She laughed: “I just have a much bigger family than him, like, so I think we’d be spending the evening with mine. Pop a party that way.”
Unlike some of their villa co-stars, Megan and Conor became boyfriend and girlfriend when the rugby hunk popped the question on a beach in the summer.
It was a departure from the over-the-top, copycat declarations of love others have made, often filling a hotel room with balloons and flower petals.
Their modest approach to romance is likely to be reflected in the presents under the tree, with Megan insisting neither feels the need to prove their love through materialistic items.
“I don’t think we feel any sort of pressure,” Megan said. “Because I think we’re both quite chillaxed in that sense.
“Like, I always said, I didn’t want the big hotel proposal, like, ‘will you be my girlfriend?’ That’s just not me.
“I way preferred the low-key kind of moment that we had.”
Their newfound fame has taken some getting used to, and the couple find it amusing when fans sometimes put 2+2 together to get 5 when analysing their relationship.
“Sometimes when we don’t post everything, people are like, ‘well, where’s this?’ And I’m like, ‘oh, yeah, we probably should have put that up, actually’,” said Megan.
“I think we’re still adjusting to it as much as people are adjusting to us.
“We get a lot of comments, especially when he’s back in Ireland, being like, ‘are you still together? Have you broken up?’ I’m like, ‘no, no, we’re just in Ireland. I’ll see him in, like, five days’.”
But Megan wouldn’t trade what they now have for her pre-fame life, instead she says she’s living a girl’s dream.
“I think it’s more mad than I thought it would be,” she said. “I very much went into the villa with thoughts of you never know if you’re going to be the first out or if you’re going to be out earlier. You can’t expect anything from the show, really.”
Megan was gifted a second shot at love with Conor when she returned to the villa with fellow original star Blu Chegini weeks after being eliminated.
It’s something she’s very thankful for, and paved the way for her reunion with Conor and adventures they’ve had since, including a romantic trip to Disneyland Paris.
“To even go back in, first of all, I was like, ‘what the hell?’ ” she said. “And then to be coming out and people recognising you and stuff, and they’re asking ‘how did you get on in Paris with Conor?’ That’s mad.
“It’s so surreal because it’s everything you dream of as a little girl, do you know what I mean? If I told my eight-year-old self I was doing this, she’d be like, ‘what?'”
Highlighting a fairytale night at the National Television Awards at London’s O2 Arena, which began on the red carpet in front of the nation’s media, Megan said: “Like, the NTAs was crazy because Kat Slater [Jessie Wallace] was beside me on the carpet, do you know what I mean? I was like, ‘what’s going on?’ So stuff like that we were having a ball at together.”
And while they’re embracing the glitz and glamour of showbiz life and the London buzz, they’re also glad to have a sanctuary where they can rest and unwind in-between.
Revealing the vibe at home, Megan said: “We’ll have it cosy, because we do like to sit and chill and watch Netflix and unwind and all that.”
They had a second shot at love when Megan returned to the villa after being eliminatedCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
Megan said life after the show has been a young girl’s dreamCredit: Getty
Eze Chidiebere Paul
I'm dedicated to creating high-quality content that informs, inspires, and delights. If you have any questions or suggestions, don't hesitate to get in touch. Happy reading!
