20 January 2024 , 09:17
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Olivia Bowen has paid tribute to her grandfather following his death, saying she will "forever" hold onto the memories of him meeting her son.
The former Love Island star shared how grateful she was that her late grandparent got to meet her young son before passing away, admitting the shock of his death still "rattles" her despite it being expected.
Olivia, who met husband Alex Bowen on the ITV2 dating series in 2016, was flooded with support as she shared some family pictures and memories of her grandfather when breaking the news of his death.
Announcing the news on Instagram on Saturday morning, Olivia wrote: "There is never a right time or the right words or the right reaction. Even though we knew it was coming, the shock still rattles me.
Olivia Bowen shared snaps of her late grandad as she announced his death on Instagram (Instagram/ @oliviadbowen)
The grieving Love Island star recalled some of her favourite memories of her late loved one (Instagram/ @oliviadbowen)"All I know is I had the utmost privilege of having you as my Grandad. I can’t believe my baby boy got to meet you & experience your light too, I will forever hold on to that, and the moments he would only sit with you with his satsuma. He would only sit with you with his milk. The way you let him trash your garden & flowers even though it’s your pride & joy & we all know you liked things just so.
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She continued: "My favourite memory, well one of, that I can hear every time I think of you - is the way you would say ‘waattchaaa Liv’ and you would give me the biggest cuddle around my shoulders. It’s so clear in my head. I can hear it. I will hear it for the rest of my life, whenever I think of you.
The mum-of-one concluded her moving tribute with: You were my childhood. Thank you for being the best grandad to me, and the best great grandad to Abel. We were so lucky to have you Grandad. I’ll miss you everyday, we all will."
Oliva, who welcomed son Abel into the world in 2022, was comforted by fans and famous friends after sharing her heartbreaking updated. "Thinking of you Liv, he must have been so proud of you," one told the grieving star in the Instagram comments, with another adding: "Such a gentleman, sleep tight vic you will be dearly missed . Sending lots of love to all the family at this sad time."
Speaking exclusively to the Mirror last year, Olivia and her husband Alex opened up about family life and revealed why they have opted to share less images of their son Abel on social media. "At first we were quite comfortable with having [pictures of Abel] online whilst he was really young, but as he's got older, he's started to look more like him," Olivia explained in November.
She then explained why they decided to reduce how much of their son's life they share with fans. "We had a couple of instances where someone had stolen our photos and made a fake account involving [Abel]," she recalled. Olivia expressed her concern, saying: "I just think it's so wrong. So we made a decision to bring him off [social media] just to protect him from all that as unfortunately that are some people on online [that ruin it]. It's a shame but we still do share pictures - we upload images of him but just not pictures of his face." Alex playfully added: "He can decide if he wants to go on Instagram when he's older!"