Love Island winner Liam Reardon has revealed how stars including Peter Andre and previous villa champ Kem Cetinay have given him advice on how to cope with fame.
And the former brickie also tells how he plans to start his own property development business – and fancies a crack at Celebrity SAS.
Liam, who won this summer’s show alongside girlfriend Millie Court, now can’t believe he’s rubbing shoulders with celebrities.
He says: “I met Peter Andre and I was speaking to Ashley Banjo after the Pride of Britain awards and they gave me some good advice.
“They told me to enjoy the ride, take the opportunities that come your way and be sensible with things.
(Image: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
“Before Love Island I looked at these people like massive celebs I’d never meet and the fact we’re chatting to each other like normal people now is crazy.
“I’ve also spoken to Finn Tapp who won the winter series – nothing can really prepare you for what it’s like, so I spoke to him as soon as I came off the show and he gave me a lot of advice.
“And I’ve spoken to Kem quite a bit – he’s from Romford like Millie so they had that in common.”
Millie, 24, is on track to become a millionaire next year after landing big-money deals with fashion giant ASOS and eyelash company Eyelure.
(Image: Getty Images)
And Liam is also planning to use his success on the show to start his own property development business in the New Year.
The Welshman says: “I want to set myself up for the rest of my life.
“For me property is something I’m passionate about – building houses and selling them on or buying, doing them up and renting them out, that’s something I want to go down.”
The 22-year-old also fancies a crack at another show, saying: “I love the outdoors and fitness so I would like to go on something like SAS or the Jungle one day.”
(Image: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Liam and Milie’s Gavin and Stacey-style romance is still going strong – and the pair, who scooped £50,000 prize money, have now got a place together in Essex.
“It’s very similar to the show,” says Liam. “It’s hard leaving home and I love Wales but Mille and I are very happy in Essex.
“We’ve spent quite a bit of the winnings on the apartment, and just funding our day-to-day life, as we didn’t have jobs coming off the show.”
The pair are also enjoying not having cameras on them 24/7 when they want to get romantic. “We can be more intimate with the cameras off,” laughs Liam.
(Image: Getty Images for The National Lottery)
Runners-up Toby Aromolaran and Chloe Burrows have just bagged a place down the road and Liam says: “I’m really close with them both and can’t wait to have fun nights together.”
During Love Island, Liam was slated for his Casa Amor antics which saw him kiss and share a bed with Lillie Haynes. Villa pal Jake Cornish also faced criticism as viewers felt he faked his romance with Liberty Poole.
Liam says: “People saw a bad version of me midway through the show but that’s that. I only care about the opinions of my close family and friends.
(Image: Empics Entertainment)
Jake as well, he got painted in a bad way but he’s a great lad. If people actually met us they’d realise we are nice people.”
Liam has teamed up with The National Lottery to celebrate its 27th birthday and unveiled an artwork at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, aimed at inspiring change in communities.
He says: “Growing up, I spent a lot of time at my local boxing ring and this is just the type of place I know could benefit so much from The National Lottery’s incredible funding – giving people the chance to come together and create real change for themselves and their wider communities.”
Liam partnered with The National Lottery to celebrate its 27th birthday by asking people what change they want to see in their community.
See lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/funding.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
