Liam Llewellyn surprised his fellow islanders and Love Island viewers when he decided to exit the villa just a few days into starting his summer of love experience. During Friday night's episode (June 10) the 22-year-old was seen gathering his new friends around the fire pit for an announcement - so you knew things were serious!
He explained how he felt like he hadn't been "giving a 100% Liam" and that his decision wasn't made lightly. "Trying to find someone to leave the villa with, that you care about, obviously that's the goal. But when you're not feeling that, it sort of makes it very hard," he said.
"I've been thinking long and hard about this. It's not a spur-of-the-moment type thing. So I've made a decision that I am going to leave the villa. It's been a breeze, it's been an absolute ball, you are all unreal."
A couple of days on and fans of the ITV2 dating show have finally been able to hear from Liam in his first interview since his shock exit. The student, from Wales, appeared on Love Island spin-off Aftersun to chat to the show's host Laura Whitmore. He revealed how he always knew Gemma Owen, who the public chose to couple up with him during episode one, was not feeling anything romantic towards him.
"I was buzzing when I coupled up with Gemma. I got the feeling her head was elsewhere. I can't believe who her dad was. I can't believe I didn't work it out," he told Laura as he appeared via video link from Newport. "It's crazy. I didn't expect the support. It's a big eye-opener for me how many people were on my side and had my back. I was looking at Gemma when I walked in and hoping it was her I would couple up with."
Those tuning in to the programme on Sunday night (June 12) were also given a look at the immediate aftermath of his exit from the famous Mallorca villa and the moment he was left surprised to find out Gemma’s dad is former footballer Michael Owen. After the pair already chatted about football early on into the process, he told Aftersun: "I can’t believe who that actually was. That’s mad."
He then added: "I’m a United fan. I actually have one of his tops when he came to the club. That first night, we were chatting about football and her family. I was so close. I can’t believe I didn’t quite work it out."
But it was discovered last week that Gemma wasn't the only one hiding a famous relative as Liam's dad is also a sport star. Liam's father David Llewellyn, who is reported to have flown out to his son in Spain after his exit, is a former Wales international rugby union player. He played his club rugby for Ebbw Vale, Newport and Neath.
He was also part of the Wales squad for the World Cup and won four caps for the national team, featuring a further 12 times on the bench for his country. The former rugby player now works as a personal trainer in Cardiff, helping some other very famous faces get into shape. He has recently been training boxing rising star Joe Cordina who was crowned the IBF super featherweight champion just last week.
