16 March 2023 , 19:00
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Love Island’s Amber Gill has found love with Arsenal women’s player Jen Beattie, and tells the Mirror: “I’m so happy.”
The reality star, 25, won the 2019 series of Love Island with Greg O’Shea, but has been dating the footballer for six months, after they met on Tik Tok, when Jen slid into her DMs.
They were first seen kissing in the terraces following 31-year-old Jen’s FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup Final win earlier this month.
However, a few “closed minded” people have reacted by claiming their relationship must be fake, as Amber dated male contestants during the reality show.
“Everybody was really like: ‘We watched you date a man,’” says Amber, with an eyeroll. “I was 21. It’s been four years!”
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Amber Gill and Jean Beattie made their red carpet debut together earlier this week (Getty Images)
The former Love Island star often cheers on her new beau in the crowd during Arsenal games (Daily Record)But she praises the majority of her social media followers for embracing her new love.
“I think England is progressive in ways because for all my friends and family it was a non-thing,” she continues. “I didn’t ‘come out’. I was fine.
“We are slowly getting there. What the people before me have done means that I can come out with my girlfriend, I can say I’m in a relationship with a girl and everything is fine, which wasn’t a thing before.
“People were scared of that. I feel in a good position.
“A couple of people saying I’m a fake? I can deal with that.”
Amber split from her Love Island partner shortly after winning the show in 2019 (S Meddle/ITV/REX)She adds that while the couple kept their relationship under wraps on social media, they were happily dating since before Christmas.
“She’s so nice, I’m really happy,” gushed Amber. “It’s been maybe five, six months. I did such a good job of keeping it quiet - we just didn’t put anything on social media for ages.”
The couple made their red carpet debut together last night at Radio 1’s Big Weekend launch, ahead of the gig in Dundee from 26th-28th May.
The event, at The Londoner hotel, was attended by other stars from Love Island, including contestants from the winter series - which Amber admits she did not watch.
“I can’t commit to four months of the year every single night at 9pm,” she says, after ITV2 introduced a second series per year.
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“I’m sorry I can’t. I was just seeing Jen. I just want to go on dates with Jen.”
She laughed that she has chosen love over Love Island.