Former Love Island contestant Tasha Ghouri admits she still regrets her treatment of ex-boyfriend Andrew Le Page after he was blindsided by their abrupt separation.
The trained dancer met Le Page while participating on the ITV2 show in 2022, with their close bond taking them to a joint fourth-place finish behind ultimate winners Davide Sanclimenti and Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu.
But the relationship quickly soured after Ghouri was subsequently given a life-changing opportunity to appear on mainstream BBC show Strictly Come Dancing.
Paired with Slovenian ballroom professional Aljaž Škorjanec, the dancer - who was born deaf - went on to win the show's coveted Glitter Ball, but her success came at a personal cost.
Appearing on Rylan Clark's How To Be In Love podcast, Ghouri, 26, claimed the relationship was already starting to fray prior to her Strictly debut, with Le Page offering 'no support' as she progressed to the show's latter stages.
She recalled: 'It got to a point where I was also trying to help him out, but he wasn't willing to help himself. And that's so hard because when you love someone, you want them to…you want the best for them.
Former Love Island contestant Tasha Ghouri admits she still regrets her treatment of ex-boyfriend Andrew Le Page after he was blindsided by their abrupt separation
The trained dancer met Le Page while participating on the ITV2 show in 2022 (pictured), with their close bond taking them to a joint fourth-place finish
'But there's a point where you're trying to also do the best for yourself and you're trying to grow. And then Strictly happened and then I think that made us grow apart.'
She added: 'On social media… it did come across like he was there supporting me, but emotionally at home, he wasn't.
'I remember this one time, I was in a dance -off in the semi -finals. And I called him, like, you know, “I feel really nervous”. And he was just out there, gaming, didn't stop gaming, didn't put his console down, or take his headphones off and say, "Okay, talk to me."
'And that's kind of where I started to really think, I deserve better than that. You know, I think that's where I started to really think, why am I settling for something that I'm having to really beg for?'
The couple eventually separated while Ghouri was participating in the annual Strictly Come Dancing tour, but while the split came as a relief, she admits regretting her treatment of Le Page - with whom she is no longer on speaking terms.
'I thought, I'm just not happy anymore and it's really sad because I had to break his heart and that's the one thing. And then when I came out doing tour, like I remember for the week, I turned my phone off and he'd speak to anyone.
'I was just so anxious, like just being out and about socially. And I shut myself off from him. He didn't deserve that. Like I should have been there for him as well. Because when all this came out, he was like, what is going on? And I was also trying to come to terms in myself of what was happening as well.
'And that's my biggest regret is how I treated him in that breakup. And I should have been so much nicer than I was.'
But the relationship quickly soured after Ghouri was subsequently given a life-changing opportunity to appear on mainstream BBC show Strictly Come Dancing
Appearing on Rylan Clark 's How To Be In Love podcast, Ghouri claimed the relationship was already starting to fray prior to her Strictly debut
Crediting her former boyfriend for 'teaching her so much about love,' she added: 'We're not on speaking terms and that's the saddest part. That's the most saddest part about all of this.'
The TV personality is now in the early stages of a new romance - but is determined to keep his identity private.
She said: 'We clicked straight away, like he's very ambitious, he's driven… we've just been enjoying our company and just seeing what happens really.’
Now a household name thanks to her TV debut on Love Island, Ghouri admits she has little warmth for the show.
During her time in the villa, more than 1, 500 Ofcom complaints were registered after she was repeatedly pied in the face by three male islanders during the show's notorious snog, marry pie challenge.
While the split came as a relief, she admits regretting her treatment of Le Page - with whom she is no longer on speaking terms
During her time in the Love Island villa, more than 1, 500 Ofcom complaints were registered after she was repeatedly pied in the face by three male islanders
Ghouri's relationship with Le Page was one of the dominant themes that year, with the couple continuing their romance outside the villa
The UK media regulator confirmed to MailOnline at the time that 1,509 complaints were on July 19 - the majority about alleged misogynistic behaviour from the male islanders towards the female cast, including in the aftermath of the challenge.
Looking back on the show, Ghouri claims men have a clear advantage frpom the moment they enter the villa.
She said: 'It’s misogynistic. I think the show is quite like that. So when a girl was to do something so little, it's blown out proportion, but if a boy was to go have three-way kisses with other people, it's like applauded.
That was kind of applauded like people were like - yes Andrew good on you, you should have done that.
'I would have got so much s*** from everybody so it was double standards and that was the hardest part of my journey.'
Rylan: How to Be in Love is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.
Ghouri and Le Page are pictured on the red carpet at the Ethnicity Awards in 2023, shortly before announcing their separation
The latest instalment of Rylan: How to Be in Love is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer
