Love Island favourite Shaughna Phillips has lifted the lid on the touching tribute she made to her late dad days after she left the ITV villa.
Loyal fans of hugely popular dating show will remember the blonde bombshell when she strutted her stuff into the villa back in 2020. The star was arguably made famous for her iconic one-liner “Congrats, hun” and has since become one of the most loved influencers on social media.
Now, in an exclusive interview with Daily Star, the mum-of-one has discussed all things Love Island, parenting and celebration. Speaking candidly about how her life changed when she landed back in the UK, the 30-year-old revealed one of the first things she purchased with her ITV pay cheque.
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To mark eight years since her dad Eddie’s death, the model purchased a memorial plaque that was installed in the Arsenal grounds. She told us: “Me and my dad were big Arsenal fans and I followed in his footsteps.
(Image: @shaughnaphillips/Instagram)
“So when I came out of Love Island, I bought my dad a plaque at the castle grounds and that should be there for a minimum of 10 years. I’ve taken Lucia to see it once and I’m gonna go back and kind of make that my place to go every Celebration Day as well.
“I want to take her there and just show her what my dad would have absolutely loved.” But this isn’t the only way the doting mum is keeping her late father’s memory alive for her daughter.
The loving daughter also has lots of pictures of her late dad around her home, with a special one taped up in her youngster’s play pen. She went on: “We have loads of pictures obviously in the house of my dad.
“And there’s one actually just above her play pen which is me and my dad on my graduation day. And it’s so strange because from quite early on, she always used to point at my dad instead of me and say ‘Mamma’.
(Image: Instagram)
“So I always show her pictures and we always talk about him. I just want to make sure that even though he’s not here, he’s still her granddad and she still knows about him because I don’t want her to ever think that it’s a taboo subject.”
Shaughna explained that she still feels her father’s presence which was confirmed for her when her mother went to see a psychic shortly after she gave birth. She explained: “My mum actually went to see a psychic not long ago and they said that my dad came through.
“And my dad was talking about Lucia basically the whole time. My mum said he said some crazy things because my dad was always really funny, like a real joker. And the lady said to my mum, ‘Your husband is saying that your daughter came out of the sunroof’ and my mum was like, ‘Oh I don’t know what that means’.
(Image: Instagram)
“And the psychic said, ‘Did your daughter have a C-section because I think that’s what he means’ and then I did.” The ITV star believes her daughter has a special connection with her late father.
The influencer went on: “She also said things like, ‘Your husband is saying that your granddaughter has his eyes, and he sees everything’.
“So that was lovely, but I always did think that he met her way before I met her, he kind of handpicked her for me.”
Celebration Day is an annual celebration of past lives, that takes place each year on the last Bank Holiday of May. For more information, check out Celebration Day.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
