'Everyone's gonna fancy the blonde white girls': Lancashire's Shakira Khan opens up about Love Island

Burnley born Shakira, 22, was one of 12 hopefuls who entered the Love Island villa back in June.

The marketing executive, who also works in children’s entertainment as a Disney Princess, proved popular with viewers and saw herself make the final, ending up in second place alongside partner Harry Cooksley.

In particular, Shakira received a lot of love thanks to her close friendship with fellow outspoken islanders Toni Laites (who went on to win the show) and Yasmin Pettet (who came third).

It comes as no surprise therefore that Shakira’s first indepth interview since leaving the villa took place with Toni and Yasmin in tow.

Conducted by the popular magazine, i-D, Shakira looks fit for a catwalk in the gothic style shoot, but during the chat she truly opened up about her experience on the ITV dating show.

On what she expected from the experience

During the chat, Shakira, who is of Pakistan-English descent, revealed she was surprised by her reception on the show - with three boys stepping forward for her on day two.

The former Blessed Trinity RC College head girl said: “I went to a predominantly white high school, I was not the beauty standard, so I was thinking, ‘What have I signed up for?’

“Everyone’s gonna love the blonde hair, blue-eyed girls, we see year in year out on Love Island. I thought, based on initial attraction, it wasn’t going to go well for me, but I was pleasantly surprised.”

What did she say about the ‘divide’?

Love Island series 12 faced a lot of criticism this year due to the divide that seemed to emerge among the female contestants.

The main parties on each side were Shakira, Toni and Yasmin versus Meg Moore, Helena Ford and Megan Forte Clarke.

During the interview, Shakira acknowledged there was a divide, explaining: “We felt [it] massively in the changing room, the snickers, the whispers, the dirty looks.

“When you come around the corner and they stop talking, you feel isolated, it feels frosty, really tense, and it’s not nice. It wasn’t a bad edit; we tried to fix it, but that was our experience, we lived it.”

The divide first appeared on day two when a newly single Shakira began trying to find a new connection, rustling the feathers of the other girls.

Shakira told the site that the other girls displayed “classic High School” behaviour whereas her upfront ways were judged far too harshly.

She explained: “If you say it how it is, and you’re honest, you’re called ‘a bitch’, you’re ’ ‘nasty’.

“No, I think it’s nasty to speak about someone behind their back, then rally together in groups and target them.”

On her turbulent romances

Shakira had quite a bumpy ride whilst on the show.

She was first coupled up with 23-year-old taxi driver Ben Holbrough before moving on to footballer Harry, 30.

A quick reunion with Ben was then followed by her recoupling with new islander Tai Isherwood, 23, but this only lasted a week as the Burnley beauty then found a connection with original islander Conor Phillips.

12 days later however and Shakira was back with Harry, of course staying with him then until the show’s end.

Shakira appeared at her lowest point when in a couple with her good friend Connor, and in her interview, she revealed why that was.

“In the outside world, I wouldn’t be sleeping in a bed with someone else when I wasn’t over something,” Shakira explained. “I just didn’t get time to heal, and that was a low point for me.”

Shakira was helped out of this low point by Toni, Yasmine, an on-site psychologist, welfare checks, and finally the fact that she and Harry finally acknowledged their true feelings for each other.

On rekindling her romance with Harry - who had also been with Helena for five weeks, Shakira said: “We hurt people in the process of that, Connor and Helena, because we didn’t deal with our emotions properly.

“But in the last week, it had not sunk in for me that I was liked. I really thought it was going to be me and Harry against the world.”

And what’s life like now she’s out of the villa?

Both Shakira, Toni and Yasmin expressed their delight at the popularity they seem to have outside of the villa, whether it be in the messages they receive online or the interactions they have with fans on the street.

Expressing a sense of vindiction, a reflective Shakira noted: “People might find you too much, too loud, too obnoxious, too confrontational, but be true to yourself, be genuine, and when you surround yourself with the right people, you’ll do better.”

When the topic of future plans came up, Shakira, who attended Burnley Youth Theatre as a child, revealed that she still has acting aspirations and also wants to become a “role model for younger girls in the huge community of South Asian people in the UK.”

Hinting that there’s something big in the pipeline for all three girls, Yasmin added: “We’re all sacrificing short-term money because we all want long-term careers.”

You can read the full interview here.