Former Love Island star Liam Reardon has been forced to move into an Airbnb after a sinkhole appeared in the driveway of his rented home, leaving it earmarked for demolition.
The 25-year-old said he felt like he was “in a movie” as neighbours shouted to his family to get out of the home at breakfast time as it crumbled around him – which he said they had moved into just “a few months ago” while speaking on his Liam And Millie podcast.
Reardon said his mother had been on a day out in London with her friends when the incident happened, and added he was “lucky” that he drove over the area where the “60ft hole” appeared just hours before, and the Tarmac did not break.
Speaking to girlfriend Millie Court, who co-hosts the podcast, he said: “We could hear the thumping of the ground just disappearing.
“We were in the house and our front gates went and more ground was disappearing, and everyone on the street, was going get out of the house, get out, and we were like f***, we feel like we’re in a movie.”
About 30 homes were evacuated in Nant Morlais in Pant after the incident earlier this month, which was caused by the collapse of a culvert – a structure that allows water to flow under roads and railways.
The collapse is believed to have been caused by heavy rain from Storm Bert, which brought about two landslides.
Many living in the area have not been told when they will be able to return to their homes, with people living close to the sinkhole told they would not be home until Christmas at the earliest.
The council brought in three cranes to help stabilise the road, while water pumps were used to divert the flow of the river.
Court, 28, said her friends initially did not believe the Merthyr Tydfil home belonged to the Welsh reality star, and thought she was “lying” when she told them in a WhatsApp group.
Reardon added: “We can’t go back to the house now, the house has been emptied, and apparently they’re going to knock the house down.”
He continued: “Thankfully none of us are injured and none of us had anything bad happening, but it’s a big inconvenience, it’s in the run-up to Christmas.
“We are virtually, kind of like homeless, so we need to find a home to move into now, so very, very stressful.”
Court added: “You’ll have to come and move in with me.”
She also asked how his dogs were finding the sudden move, to which he replied: “They don’t know what’s happening, they don’t know whether they’re coming or going.
“Because our house, which we lived in, Dolly (the dog) lived there all her life, our family home, but we’ve we left there now – moved into this bungalow.
“So we’ve been there for a couple of months, so now they’ve kind of got used to that place, and now we’ve got a big, massive hole in the garden.
“We’ve had to move out, and now we’re in this random Airbnb, and they don’t know where they are again.
“She pooed on the floor, I cleaned it up obviously, and we bought new beds because we couldn’t take the beds with us, and she peed on a bed last night.
“She’s just all nervous, she doesn’t know where she is.”
Reardon won the 2021 series of ITV’s Love Island alongside Court, after joining the show as late entrants.
