23 October 2023 , 11:00
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Olivia Attwood shot to fame six years ago on Love Island and despite admitting she was on the show purely for the 'experience', she ended up loved-up with fellow Islander Chris Hughes. Their tumultuous romance continued outside the villa, and they even starred in their own spin-off, Chris and Olivia: Crackin' On, before splitting in February 2018.
But before her reality TV days, there was her former flame Bradley Dack, a Sunderland footballer, who she reunited with and went on to marry this June in a luxury London hotel ceremony after he popped the question in 2019. The pair first met in a nightclub eight years ago, with Olivia reflecting on the night before their big day: "Got talking to this dude in libertine (nightclub) about 8 years ago because I loved a free drink and he had a cute smile. Tomorrow I’m marrying him. Modern day love stories."
Now a panellist on Loose Women, Olivia, 32, revealed more details about their relationship on the show following their marriage, explaining that it was a misconception they waited for each other after Olivia had finished with Love Island. She shared: "We didn't. We broke up, we had a big disagreement.
Olivia Attwood has banned husband Bradley from liking other women's social media posts (ITV)"I'd already turned down Love Island series two, so when Love Island series three rang, I was like right, I'm definitely going now. We'd been going out four or five months at this stage. We were semi-serious, but there was definitely a grey area, shall we call it for daytime television. We left it at that that. I went on Love Island. I was like, 'I'm done'. I'm never going back there. The door is closed."
The TV personality then revealed that Bradley had sent her a text upon her leaving the villa, despite her partnering with Chris, saying things were far from over. "He [Brad] has since said to me the door was never closed for him, he was always holding out hope and he actually – I don't think I've told this before – but he messaged me two days after I came out the villa off someone else's phone saying, 'We're not done, it will never be done.' Very dramatic and romantic, until we were back together. And I was just like, 'This guy, honestly, he’s like a dog with a bone.'
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"It turns out if I hadn't gone on the show [Love Island] and hadn't had that break, we 100 per cent would not be together now or be married. No way. Because he's a different person. I'm a very different person. So we just had time to realise I think what we actually meant to each other and what we wanted. A bit of time to mature.
Olivia doesn't think she and Bradley would be together now if they hadn't had a break (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)"He [Brad] claims he waited for me, but I'm like you weren't alone though really. The stuff I found in your bedroom would suggest. So yeah, it wasn't like a sitting, I'm just going to watch you date someone else while I do nothing. He was holding out hope, but in the meantime, he obviously wasn't, you know, lonely."
Meanwhile, Olivia also revealed that the pair have a mutual agreement when it comes to photos on social media, with a ban on Bradley liking other women's posts. "It's a 'non-like zone' in my house," she admitted. "You don't like girl's photos. Not even one. You like it with your eyes and your mind, whatever you need to do. You don't need to let her know that you like it."
Olivia said the only exception to the rule would be if the woman was a mutual friend of her and Brad's. "That's different. I'm talking about a woman he doesn't know. I'm saying this and I'm thinking someone out there is going to find a picture he's liked and I'm sitting here saying, 'My husband doesn't like women's photos' and they're all going to get sent through.
"I think it just spells trouble. I don't think it's very respectful if I'm honest, and I don't care if people think that's petty. I think it's how that person receives you liking it. There's a whole subtext I think to likings and comments." Explaining her reasons for her self-imposed ‘no-like’ rule, Olivia shared: "I mean I wouldn't like a picture of a really hunky guy I don't know, because I think that he would think I'm making a move on him."
Loose Women airs on ITV weekdays at 12.30pm