Shropshire Star

Love Island: Curtis wins Maura's heart despite missing out on show crown

He may have narrowly missed out on winning Love Island but Curtis Pritchard won the heart of fellow contestant and model, Maura Higgins.

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Curtis Pritchard

After eight weeks of island drama, the couple placed fourth following a public vote during the highly-anticipated live final on Monday night on ITV2.

Four couples were battling it out for the title and the £50,000 prize money, with the news revealed by show host Caroline Flack.

It has been a rollercoaster ride for Curtis, whose family run a dance studio near Whitchurch.

The 23-year-old dancer controversially dumped his 'half-girlfriend' Amy Hart half way through the series after he realised there was something missing.

During the final he said: "Me and Amy, we were here from the beginning. Everything was so exciting. We were crowded in this bubble and I didn't realise there were things missing. I realised I could not lie to Amy because she's talented and amazing."

Amy made the tough decision to leave the villa but it wasn't long before Curtis re-coupled with Irish Maura, who admitted she had her eye on him from the start.

She said: "I would have gone for Curtis, if he was not with Amy. Obviously that (the split) happened and I made a beeline for him straight away."

But it was rugby player Greg O'Shea and Amber Gill who took the crown and split the prize money.

Boxer Tommy Fury and influencer Molly-Mae Hague, who had been the bookies favourites to win, finished second while basketball player Ovie Soko and model India Reynolds finished in third place.

The show's finale attracted an average audience of 3.63 million - peaking at 4.05 million - and gained a 21.4 per cent average audience share.

According to ITV, it was the most watched episode of the series to date and the most watched Love Island final ever.