Love Island's Shakira hints at family rift over 'trust issues' with Harry

Shakira Khan has revealed why her mum hasn't met Harry Cooksley yet. The reality star, 24, met and coupled up with Love Island co-star Harry, 30, on the latest series of the ITV2 dating show.

In the end, it was Toni Laites and Cach Mercer who walked off with the £50,000 prize, but for Shakira and Harry, love came after weeks of uncertainty as they were involved in a love triangle with Helena Ford. Ramping up the drama, Harry's ex-girlfriend from the outside world, Emma Munro was also thrown into the mix. On Thursday, Shakira and Toni, now best friends, made a joint appearance on Loose Women together to discuss their rise to fame.

Former EastEnders actress Nadia Sawalha, who appeared alongside Denise Welch,Frankie Bridge, and anchor Kaye Adams, asked the new TV star how she was managing any 'trust issues' they might have following the ups and downs that played out on screen. Shakira replied: "It was important for us to build back at our own pace, everyone's been together from the start. Everyone's like 'Are you boyfriend and girlfriend, are you exclusive?'"

READ MORE: Love Island star sparks fix row as she says winner Toni Laites was ITV plant

READ MORE: Love Island's Harry confirms he was dating Islander's friend 'right before' show

Former Coronation Street star Denise, 67, quickly cut in to ask Shakira if she and Harry had met each other's families yet, and she replied: "Not yet. Well, my mum's been cruising round the Mediterranean, and I've not even home to see my dad. I've not seen my dad in about 10 weeks!"

Just then, the Loose Women panel invited Harry into the conversation, who was sitting in the audience, and he spoke of his behaviour throughout his time in the villa. He said: "I like to think I'm living up to what she wants now. I just want to be that person, I am, but I wanted to make the most of my time in the villa and not sit there for eight weeks."

And in response, Shakira quipped: "I've always told him that he's not a bad person, he just does silly things!"

During his time in the villa, viewers watched as Harry sat back as Helena and Shakira took the triangle drama out on each other. Just days after the final, he has admitted that he hasn't actually spoken to Helena but gave a positive update on the status of their relationship now that the show is over.

He told Christine Lampard on last Friday's edition of Lorraine: "I think I definitely handled things in the wrong way with Helena and Shakira. But at the end of the day, Helena and I are now moving forward as friends. I haven't actually spoken to her since I've been out but we had a couple of conversations before she left the villa and I'm delighted it's amicable." It comes after reports of all the celebrities rumoured to be joining BBC Strictly Come Dancing 2025.

Christine then quizzed Shakira on how she felt during the whole situation, and she said: "Honestly it was heartbreaking and having to watch it pan out every day was so tough. I think in the outside world you can have a bit of distance, you can speak to each other. It was something I'd never experienced before."

Elsewhere in the series, Harry had to deal with his ex-girlfriend Emma Munro arriving as a Bombshell during the Casa Amor portion of the competition and joked that he and the other boys had been hitting the gym every day in an attempt to impress the girls before all the drama unfolded.

He added: "I think I was buzzing, all the boys were so buzzing. We were calling it the Promised Land, we were gymming every day. We were training like it was the World Cup final and then the girls would come out, Emma was sat there and I just put my head in my hands. I hadn't seen her for months, probably since last year so it was such a surreal feeling."

But in the end, Harry ended up with Shakira and even though they were beaten to the £50,000 prize by Cach and Toni, he knew that Shakira was the one for him in the villa.

He explained: "I think it was just one conversation that we had. I would make comments towards her and me actually had a chat one-on-one for the first time in weeks and it was just natural, we expressed how we felt. I'd buried a lot of emotion while I was in there and it just kind of came out."

Shakira was initially coupled up with Harry in the early weeks of the competition, but they got together again just days ahead of the final and he told her: "I came in here and thought it would be a lot of fun. Finding you in a villa in Mallorca was not on my bingo card this summer. I do regret taking too long to tell you how I felt. We both know this is more than surface level - I think it always has been for me."

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Threads