Swansea Love Islander, Paige Thorne has hit the ground running after her stint on the ITV2 dating show, signing a six-figure deal with a major fashion brand. The former paramedic, who left the Love Island villa the day before the final, has followed Gemma Owen into being the face of a fashion brand after Michael Owen's daughter signed with PrettyLittleThing.
Paige, 24, has joined up with Manchester fashion house, Forever Unique and shared the news on her Instagram account, while the brand itself confirmed the partnership but not the exact amount Paige has signed for, reported Manchester Evening News.
Posing with a glass of bubbly and Forever Unique boss, Seema Malhotra, Paige wrote: "It's official... So excited to announce my first ever collection with a brand I’ve loved for so long! My partywear collection is everything and more and I’m so excited for you all to see it! Feeling so overwhelmed and grateful, hope you all love it as much as I do! Bring on party season!!"
Read more: Love Island's Gemma Owen signs six-figure deal with clothing brand
The fashion brand, the creation of Seema - a regular on ITV's The Real Housewives of Cheshire - will create party collection with Paige, who is dating Adam Collard after they paired up on the show. Seema is said to have loved Paige from the very first episode of Love Island and described her as the "absolute perfect fit" for the brand.
Paige's new party collection is inspired by the Love Island star's premium and girly aesthetic and will showcase high-fashion, feminine shapes designed to elevate your look, with attention to detail being at the core.
Seema said of the partnership: “We are beyond excited to announce Paige as our latest celebrity signing! We were drawn to Paige immediately in the villa and love what she stands for as a strong, independent and driven female. She knows what she wants and that is at the core of our ethos as a brand. The new collection has been designed to make a statement and I can’t wait for you all to see it."
Earlier this week, Paige spoke about her love of being a paramedic and hoped to return to her rolebut that her decision to quit was to avoid backlash towards the NHS. She said the NHS management team in Swansea were fully supportive of her, but her only option was to resign as there could have been criticism for allowing a member of staff to go on the show because the service was understaffed. Appearing on the Girls Know Nothing podcast she explained her decision, and said there were a lot of tears around it.
She said: "When I did tell work I needed the time off to go into the villa, my manager was so supportive and she 100% backed me every step of the way. But the only thing was, I tried all ways to keep my job and do Love Island at the same time. Obviously, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. I said to my manager: 'It’s a massive opportunity, is there any way I can do it?'
"I tried taking annual leave, unpaid leave, a career break, I tried every single avenue possible to keep my job as well as do Love Island, but, unfortunately, because paramedics and the ambulance service and the NHS in general get such bad backlash about waiting times and being understaffed and all of this, I think, from a management perspective, they were like, 'Yes, we want to fully support you'. I think they couldn’t risk me going in not knowing me as a person, obviously higher up they don’t know me as an individual employee.
"I think they were worried that I went in and then it’s like, 'Oh, the NHS is struggling this much and paramedics are struggling this much and you’ve let one have time off to go into Love Island', it might’ve created more bad press and bad backlash that they just didn’t need. Which I totally understand. So the only option I had was to resign, which I was devastated about."
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