In a shock double elimination, we saw both Elias Chigros and Justin Lacko evicted from Love Island last night, but muscle man Elias has revealed that the two didn’t have a great relationship for their last week together.
The 27 year-old hunk didn’t look too upset to be leaving Spain calling the place an “emotional madhouse,” and said it was “interesting having to open up to strangers, essentially.” NW had a chat with the model and fitness trainer to get the dirt on what really happened in the villa.
You hadn’t quite made the connection with anyone, did that surprise you?
I was definitely hoping that would be a possibility. But at this point in my life, I’m really looking for something relatively serious. The next person I choose to get together with, I want it to be for the long haul. It’s not like I’m 23 and just looking for a relationship to pass the time, I’m looking for something very serious at this point, so to find that person on a TV, I think is unlikely, but I went in there with that hope, and unfortunately it didn’t work out.
In terms of the decision that was made by the public, I’m not surprised. I explored all my options whilst in the villa, but there was definitely no instant connection or instant romance, so to speak. So when something like that was coming up in terms of the public vote, I knew where I was at and I knew I wasn’t going to be that attached to any of the women in the house, so I thought there would be a good chance I would be leaving.
Is there any of them that you think when you get out you would reach out and try to get to know?
A lot of girls I would love to keep some kind of relationship with, in terms of a friendship at least, but in terms of pursing any of them, no, I think if that was the case I would have done it whilst in the villa. You get so much one-on-one time with everyone; it’s a very good opportunity to get to know someone without too many distractions.
No one can ever say you were playing the game…
I definitely felt like I was thrown into it, there was some sort of a warning from the Monk when she said “This is not friend island, it’s Love Island” – and I thought ‘Okay, wow, I need to start looking at my options’ and that’s when I went down the path of pursuing Millie. She’s the closest to my archetype in this point in time, so I should suss it out and then that all blew up in my face because I just wasn’t really that into it.
It was like, this girl is sweet, but in the real world would I actually date her, would I look at having a long term relationship with her, and the answer would always be no. and with that in mind it was difficult to fake something and I had to be genuine to myself, and I had my own goals and what I wanted.
Is that why you made the comment about that girl you wanted to text…
100%! My mind was elsewhere and that was just proof of that. In saying that, the comment carried no weight, the girl in question is just a girl I shot with years ago, she lives in LA now, it wasn’t so much a case of me wanting to pursue something, it was just my mind being outside the villa being like ‘what else is happening out there? What are the other options?’
Do you feel like anyone in the house is playing the game?
I think in that environment, you kind of end up playing the game without meaning to, I mean you do want to stay in that situation, it is a lot of fun in there, as much as it is a mental challenge, it’s somewhat addictive. Everyone wants to stay in there and keep a good thing going essentially, but I feel like surprisingly most people were really genuine with what they wanted and the reasons they were on the show in the first place.
We’re with you, Jaxon.
What about that Millie argument?
That was intense, and I wasn’t expecting it from her. In saying that, I didn’t even know her that well, so the worst should be expected. But Jaxon actually called it, he was like, ‘mate, you got to watch out, she’s going to lose it,’ and I was like ‘nah, we’ll have a chat, it will be sweet’ – then boom!
Kissing Justin to get revenge – was that a tactic that could have worked?
No, that was just really immature. I got told already what they showed already on the episode, but that’s actually not the reaction I had. When that happened, I was clapping and laughing! But they’ve pulled a shot of me looking away and looking angry, so you’ve heard it here first! I was applauding. The way she reacted, as much as I felt bad for hurting her feelings and I apologised when we had the chat and I apologised again last night before I left, the way she reacted was unbelievably immature and then when she went and did that it was like ‘you are quite young in the head’ – I don’t know. I didn’t get too much closer to her.
You almost dodged a bullet…
100% she’s not quite there for me in terms of maturity. But in saying that, we did establish a really strong friendship and we did get along super well, but that was just like, ‘okay, this is not relationship material for me’ and I’m not 16.
“We did establish a really strong friendship and we did get along super well, but that was just like, ‘okay, this is not relationship material for me’ and I’m not 16.”
Justin – camp comments. What made you just want to be honest about that?
I’m honest with everyone – that’s just how I am. I just got very frustrated with people pissing in his pockets, being like ‘oh man, you’ve got everything, you’ve got the package, I don’t understand why these girls don’t want you’ but we’ve all had the same conversations with these women, who have said ‘he’s just not that masculine, it’s because he’s camp, gay, etc’ so I tried to say it in a way that was diplomatic, and bring it up in a way that was like ‘okay look, it’s no dig at your sexuality, or masculinity, but this is what is being said and he didn’t take that very well, he didn’t speak to me for the last week of being in the villa.
He acted really kindly, like it wasn’t a big deal?
Well that’s not actually what happened behind the cameras. His reaction was quite adverse…
You said you had a good time in the villa, but sometimes you looked kind of bored and over it? Did you feel a disconnect?
You have to remember, when you’re in there, most of the time you are not doing a whole lot, so there’s only so many times you can hit the gym, train then go for a swim, repeat. I’m not very good at being caged up like that, and that was my biggest challenge dealing with people telling me what to do, which I haven’t had since I was like 15.
I’ve always just done whatever the f*** I’ve wanted to do when I’ve wanted to do it. So all of a sudden it’s like ‘you can’t do this, this is happening now…’ and I was just like ‘stop telling me what to do, just let me live!’
Is it weird having your life dictated to you while you’re in there?
Yeah, 100%! Even last night when I got back to base, and I was in a room with this guy, within 30 seconds of him leaving I was out of the room, I just can’t be in the one place all caged up, I can’t deal with that, I’m always out exploring and doing something.
Even though the villa is luxurious, and they do provide a lot for you, for me, it’s not enough, I need more than just looking at the view every day, being like ‘I want to get out of there, I want to get in the ocean, I want to climb that mountain, I want to see what that church is over there,’ – I was just losing it a bit.
Would you go back in if you had the chance?
No, definitely not. I’ve had my time. I think it’s time for the people in there to really push forward with their experience in there.
You said before to us that you weren’t into girls with plastic surgery, and we thought ‘this would be interesting’ but one of the first girls you tried to connect with was Kim…
Yeah absolutely, and I still stand by my comments, I did try to say something to stir the pot, I did want to make a statement in saying that. The main thing there was that I feel like the cultural pressure on women to look a certain way is too much and I wish it wasn’t that way. And men and women alike, but women especially, there is just so much pressure on them to act like this, and look like this, and when you start to augment your body, it’s just getting a bit full on. There are other ways to go about it and other ways to find confidence in yourself. For me, strong is always going to be the new sexy, you know what I mean?
What if there was a girl out there that ticks your boxes, but she’s had stuff done, would you be able to overlook that?
Yeah, of course. It’s not a deal breaker, absolutely not. But someone who has gone to… it’s hard to say. But it’s not a massive deal breaker, it’s just something I think I look at and wish people could feel more comfortable in their own skin.
“For me, strong is always going to be the new sexy, you know what I mean?”
People on Twitter were saying that you just went in there to further your career…
It’s one of those things, where I was one of the lucky ones who didn’t go through this whole process and applied for it and got picked out, I got scouted essentially, so in saying that, this is not something that I would have applied for or chased. I got scouted, hit up, and I didn’t even reply to any of the messages until I found out that two friends of mine had also applied, and they were like as if you’re going to skip that. So I sussed it out, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience…
Would you be willing to try another TV show?
Hell no! Not interested!
Not even the UK one?
No. I’m very business focused, there’s things I want to do this year – there’s two start-ups I want to kick off in the next six months so that’s going to be my focus for the rest of the year – not becoming some bloody reality TV star, it’s not want I’m looking for, I’m not putting any eggs in that basket. Acting, sure! I am into acting and modelling, I do a bit of that, that’s the part I would take, but reality TV, that was a hell of an experience and a fun time, but it’s not something that I am looking to again.
Hate about your modelling campaigns that have come out – you’re Target ones etc. Were you ready for the downside of the public exposure?
It doesn’t faze me, I know who I am, I’m pretty solid on the judgement of myself and the adversity I’ve gone through growing up, I’ve come to that conclusion, and people can say what they want behind a keyboard, but if you ever see me on the street, come say hello first.
Who is the couple you think is going to win?
At this point, I think it’s definitely going to be Eden and Erin, what they have is quite genuine and I see it lasting beyond the show so I hope they take it all the way.
