Love Island star Liberty Poole is desperate to go to bed… to catch up on some much-needed sleep.
The bubbly Brummie won over millions of reality TV fans with her tender but ultimately heart-breaking on-screen relationship with Jake Cornish.
But now the 22-year-old has swapped the sunshine for the cold to appear on Dancing on Ice – and fans hope her professional skating partner Joe Johnson will put her in a spin both off as well as on the ice.
The pair have already shown some real chemistry on the ITV show.
Libby called their first routine, to Little Mix’s pop anthem Shout Out to My Ex, “pure independent woman”.
Many viewers thought it was targeted at ex-boyfriend Jake.
Her next dance was fun after she dressed as a zebra and Joe wore a lion outfit to skate to I Like To Move It from the Madagascar movie.
But any animal magic between the pair is purely for the show.
Libby’s mum Jo has revealed her daughter is too busy for love and that Joe is like a brother to her.
The reality star has been training six days a week in between juggling her business ventures as a brand ambassador – and her mum reckons she would rather catch up on sleep than go out on a date.
Jo, who has flown over from her home in Abu Dhabi to support Libby on the show, joked that she is only in the UK “to match up her socks and cook her homemade meals”.
But she said of her daughter and best friend: “She’s not looking for love. She is very instinctive, kind, caring and honest… when a relationship is right for her, she will know.
“She says, ‘Mum, I’m not looking to settle down but the next person I meet, I want it to be a great relationship, like what you’ve got’.”
Revenge
Libby found fame after appearing on last year’s Love Island but left the ITV dating show before the final after splitting from Jake.
Jo insists there is no animosity between Libby and her ex though, and says she’s not the kind of girl to seek “revenge or karma”.
“Everybody has moved on from that,” Jo said. “That is history and she has been so involved with so many things since then.
“She’s got a whole load of self-love and wants to be able to help others.
“She feels sorry for her worst enemy – that’s the kind of person she is.
“I’m pleased the people in her life now, her friends and family, are all genuine and want the best for her.”
Despite what happened with Jake, Libby “hasn’t lost her faith in love” but if anyone is not with her for the right reasons, they will have to contend with Jo.
She said: “If romance comes, it comes, but she is not looking for it. She’s got her whole future together. She is only 22.
“She has had her experiences and is wise. I trust her judgment. As long as she is happy, I am happy but apparently, I can scare people… I have this look.
“I can suss people out quite easily. I would want her to be with someone who loves her the way she deserves.
“If they appreciate her for her true heart, I will be happy. She deserves it.”
Jo also said there is no chance of romance blossoming between her daughter and Joe.
“She has made a great friend in Joe, but Libby sees him as a brother,” she said. “He is welcome to be part of our family.”
Jo owes her own happy love life to Libby, who played matchmaker when she was just 12 to bring her mum and her now husband Stu together.
She said: “I was a single mum for years and Libby set me up with my husband, Stu. She said, ‘Mum, I’d just really like you to meet somebody’.
Speech
“She chose my husband and fixed me up with him.
“He didn’t live very far from us and she did it all
and put us together. It was through friends.
“She gave a speech at the wedding – ‘I never thought my mum needed anybody until she met Stu’ – and it made us all cry. She has brought me up really well! We’re best friends and do everything together.”
Since appearing on Love Island, Libby has amassed an estimated £1.7million fortune.
But she still has her feet firmly on the ground and has vowed to remain down-to-earth.
She has even kept her old car, rather than splurge on a new luxury motor. Jo said: “She is keeping her little Fiat. She said to me, ‘Mum, I’m so happy driving this little car. I don’t need to change it. I’m not going to change it’. And I said, ‘Yeah absolutely, you keep driving that’.
“Humility, having that sense of humbleness and reality… I just think I’m proud. I am very proud.”
Libby has also been heavily influenced by her grandparents, who she is very close to.
Jo’s own grandmother fostered and adopted 28 children.
She also told how Libby loved school and said that although she was bullied for a short while, she sailed through it.
“It was less than a week and it all got sorted,” Jo said. “It got mentioned to the teachers and sorted quickly. She went to a great school.
“Kids fall out… it is part of growing up and learning.
“Her friends are precious to her. She has never lost a friend. She was always sweet and kind and very forgiving.
“She got hit when she was younger when we were on holiday somewhere. A little boy with learning difficulties actually punched Libby and made her nose bleed.
Pure
“She said, ‘Mum, I want to forgive him’, and it really broke my heart because even at a young age, she was only five or six, she didn’t retaliate. She understood that he had learning difficulties and chose to forgive. That’s exactly how my daughter is. She is such a pure soul.”
Libby’s skating ability also comes from Jo, who wanted to be a professional.
The reality star now trains at the same rink in Solihull, West Mids, that her mum once did.
The pair have watched Dancing on Ice religiously since the show first started and Jo plans to take her old skates to be signed by show judges Torvill and Dean.
Speaking of her chance to have gone professional, Jo said: “Biggest regret of life was I qualified really early but I lost my confidence competing against bigger, older girls and had to give it up.
“I really wish I had never given up competing. I was quite good.
“Libby is not doing the show for me. Yes, it is something we did together and I would take her skating with me when she was 11 and help her get her balance on the ice, but it is for herself she is doing it.”
Wannabe TV presenter Libby has reportedly said she wants to be the next Holly Willoughby – but Jo says there is something else she needs to do first.
“She is still enrolled in university in September to do her marketing degree,” she said. “She has one more year to finish.
“She really loves Holly, and Alison Hammond too. She is open to opportunities but she definitely wants to do charity work. Her future looks very bright.”
