Love Island’s Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu says win feels ‘surreal’ while Davide Sanclimenti admits he ‘cried’ at fan support as stars return to social media after villa triumph
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They were crowned as the winners of Love Island 2022 during Monday night’s final.
And Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu said her and Davide Sanclimenti’s win feels ‘surreal’ as they returned to social media on Tuesday after the Islanders were given back their phones.
Appearing on an Instagram Live, the actress, 27, said she was ‘so f**king happy’ that she and Davide were crowned winners and took home the £50,000 cash prize.
Emotional: Davide Sanclimenti admitted he ‘cried’ when he saw fans’ support online as he appeared on Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu’s Instagram Live on Tuesday
‘It’s our last night and I will be coming back to the UK tomorrow. I’m so happy I f**king won, it’s surreal,’ she said.
As she thanked her fans for ‘believing’ in her since ‘day one’ of the ITV2 dating show, Davide, 27, said he ‘cried’ when he saw the outpouring of social media support.
Appearing with Ekin-Su in the video, the business owner said: ‘I was crying when I opened my phone, honestly.’
Ekin-Su was also asked by an eager fan if she and Davide plan to move in together, to which she teased: ‘Oohh who knows! Who knows!’
Winners! Ekin-Su gushed that it felt ‘surreal’ that she and Davide were crowned as 2022 Love Island winners and took home the £50,000 cash prize
Gratitude: Ekin-Su also thanked her fans for all their support and for ‘believing’ in her since ‘day one’ as she appeared with Davide on Instagram Live after they got their phones back
The outpouring of fan support comes after the couple quickly became fan favourites in the villa, and secured more than 60 per cent of viewer votes in the final.
Gemma Owen and Luca Bish followed behind as runners-up, while Indiyah Polack and Dami Hope came in third place and Tasha Ghouri and Andrew Le Page were fourth.
And after Ekin-Su and Davide’s landslide victory, the Essex-based actress has already been tipped to become the show’s highest earner in history.
She has already scooped £25,000 in prize money, and a source has told MailOnline she’s already being inundated with lucrative offers, meaning she could surpass multi-millionaire Molly-Mae Hague, 23, who was runner-up on the 2019 series, to become the show’s richest ever star.
Romantic: The outpouring of fan support comes after the couple quickly became fan favourites in the villa, and secured more than 60 per cent of viewer votes in the final
Ekin-Su, who entered the villa on the third day as a bombshell, has already had a taste of the spotlight, having starred in Turkish soap operas and reality shows before entering the Love Island villa, and the brunette is now set to cash in with an estimated £1 million payday.
A source close to Ekin-Su told MailOnline: ‘We’ve never seen the likes of the deals that are already coming through the door. It’s not just your typical reality TV fodder.
‘She’s absolutely inundated with lucrative offers from brands and they’re prepared to pay big money to get her onboard. She’s going to be the new Molly-Mae Hague!’
After the Islanders’ were given back their phones on Tuesday, Dami Hope took to Instagram with his fellow finalists as they stay in a nearby villa in Mallorca before jetting back to the UK.
The Dubliner was joined on his Stories by winners Ekin-Su and Davide as they greeted their new fans.
Real world: After the Islanders’ were given back their phones on Tuesday, Dami Hope took to Instagram with his fellow finalists as they stay in a nearby villa in Mallorca
Dami then shared an Instagram Live of himself walking around the grounds of the villa where he said most of the islanders were being ‘anti-social’.
However, he did manage to get Tasha Ghouri to appear on camera as she waved to his followers while lying in bed.
Meanwhile, Andrew Le Page hosted a quick Instagram Live from the same villa where he was joined by Dami and runner up Luca Bish.
The boys laughed and joked around as they watched Davide and Ekin-Su getting interviewed in the garden of the villa.
Finalists: Andrew Le Page shared an Instagram Live where he was joined by Dami and Luca Bish
Clip: Dami then shared an Instagram Live of himself walking around the grounds of the villa where he said most of the islanders were being ‘anti-social’
Ekin-Su and Davide were crowned the winners of Love Island 2022 on Monday night, and voting figures have revealed they secured more than half of the public vote.
Across Sunday and Monday, viewers were able to vote for their favourite couple to be crowned as winners and go home with the £50,000 cash prize – which for the first time ever wasn’t offered as a ‘split or steal’ deal.
And final voting figures released by ITV have revealed that fan favourites Ekin-Su and Davide, both 27, secured a staggering 63.69 per cent of the public vote.
They won the ITV2 dating contest by a landslide as runners-up Gemma Owen and Luca secured just 14.47 per cent of the viewers’ final votes.
Rules: Islanders have their phones taken off from before they enter the villa
Dami and Indiyah Polack, who came in third place, followed closely behind with 11.77 per cent of fans voting for them, while fourth place finalists Andrew Le Page and Tasha Ghouri received 10.07 per cent of votes.
According to the figures, Ekin-Su and Davide were firmly in the lead by nearly 50 per cent of viewers’ votes, also proving them the second most popular winning couple ever on Love Island.
Their landslide victory was beaten only by 2018 winners Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham, who secured a massive 79.66 per cent of the public vote during the final.
As Ekin-Su and Davide were crowned the 2022 winners, the emotional actress jumped into her Italian beau’s arms as they celebrated their win and speechless Davide said he ‘couldn’t believe it’.
Surprise: Dami did manage to get Tasha Ghouri to appear on camera as she waved to his followers while lying in bed
The couple finished ahead of Gemma, 19, and Luca, 23, who were awarded second place and narrowly missed out on the money, with bosses deciding to ditch the ‘split or steal’ twist that usually comes at the end for the first time in the show’s history.
In previous years, winners have picked an envelope which either has the prize money or nothing enclosed, with one person in the couple being given the £50,000 with the option to ‘split or steal’ the cash.
This year, host Laura Whitmore, 37, announced during Monday night’s live final they would automatically be sharing the money as producers opted to scrap the tradition which has been in place since series one.
During the finale, Ekin-Su read a declaration of love to Davide before they were announced as this year’s winners.
She expressed her love for Davide as she admitted: ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither were we,’ while Davide told her ‘te amo’, something he’d previously said he would only say to the woman he wants to marry.
Reading her declaration during the Islanders’ final ball, Ekin said: ‘It’s been a hell of a ride for us but good things don’t come easy and with every bump in the road, our connection has become stronger and deeper.
‘I love everything about you. You have shown me what happiness is. Davide, only you can annoy me so much and at the same time have a passion to kiss you right back after.
‘I just love being together. The Turkish delight and the Italian stallion. Perfect for one another, you’re my soulmate. I want you in my present and my future.’
The Love Island 2022 finale was watched by 3.4 million viewers across ITV2 and ITV Hub, up 100,000 compared to last year.
This makes it the biggest finale for the show since 2019, averaging 2.7million viewers across its run.
Fan favourites: Ekin-Su and Davide won the ITV2 dating contest with 63.69 per cent of the vote, while runners-up Gemma Owen and Luca Bish secured 14.47 per cent of viewers’ votes
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