Love Island's Paige Turley and Finn Tapp have spoken about filming E4's Celebrity Coach Trip as the pair decided to make a return to reality TV for the first time since winning the dating contest.
The couple have stayed out of the limelight since leaving Love Island's first winter series at the beginning of 2020.
However Paige and Finn joined the celebrity coach in Portugal after a getaway to Cyprus and said that being able to appear on it as a couple was a bonus, as reported by The Mirror.
Joining the rest of the cast part way through the series meant that they had to find their footing when friendships had already been established on the coach.
Paige said: “We eased into the group really quickly and everybody was so nice. I think a lot of people had forgotten that you had to vote people off until the time came to it.”
The 24-year-old said there was a degree of “voting tactics”, as the original cast tried to keep each other on the coach, but Finn said this was understandable.
He said: “If you took all the votes to heart, you wouldn't enjoy the experience for what it was.
“We just tried to enjoy the days as best as possible.”
The nightly voting process on the E4 show was still “brutal”, Paige exclusively told The Mirror.
“You're having such a good time and there's people that you would never necessarily meet, so it just felt really brutal voting somebody off,” she said.
“We got lucky we had such a great coach of people, so we never had any real reasons to vote for anybody. It was like making up excuses every night.”
Finn added: “You would have preferred someone to annoy you so you had a reason to vote them out.”
The close-knit cast of the E4 show, which also included actors Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph as well as Geordie Shore stars Sophie Kasaei and James Tindale, have stayed in touch since filming the series last year.
The cast are all in a group chat, which Finn said is most active when Celebrity Coach Trip is airing at 8pm on weekdays.
The 22-year-old said: “It's funny on the group chat when a couple in their little interviews at the end have said something about someone else.
“On the group chat it's like, ‘Oh that's what you think!’”
The cast have plans to watch the finale of the Channel 4 show at Linda’s London home, where Finn could potentially reunite with Olympian Ashley McKenzie, following the rumblings of a rivalry on the Coach Trip after Finn pushed Ashley into the sea during a paddleboard race.
Finn said: “That was something that I never planned on getting involved with - a competition with an Olympian. It's just funny. I think Ash actually quite liked it that he was able to have that sort of competition. It was good fun.”
Paige said: “It's like a bromance between you because you're quite alike - you're competitive.”
Comparing this reality TV experience to their ITV debut on Love Island, Paige said it was a “completely different show”.
“When you go into Love Island you don't know anyone,” she said, “Whereas we had each other this time. You weren't having to flirt or go on dates.”
Finn said: “It was just nice to get out in the sun and film something that was quite light hearted and funny.”
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