Love island's samie & tyrique: a timeline of six years & shady revelations

The Instagram couple pics were the distraction. While everyone was dissecting Samie Elishi and Tyrique Glynn’s sudden Moroccan getaway, a far juicier narrative was unfolding on a podcast—one that paints a complicated picture of their relationship, a former flame, and a thinly veiled jab at the Love Island voting public.

A long time coming: six years of unspoken attraction

Forget whirlwind romances; Samie and Tyrique’s story stretches back to 2020, a chance encounter at a Boohoo event. As Tyrique revealed on Joe Baggs’ podcast, Not My Bagg, the pair exchanged Instagram handles amidst a gathering that also included fellow Love Island alum Toby Aromolaran. Nothing materialized then, but the seed was planted. Both would later enter the Love Island villa—Tyrique in 2022, Samie in the same season—and pursue separate relationships, only for his interest in Samie to resurface after his split from Ella Thomas.

The Timeline, Unpacked:

It’s a tangled web, but here's the breakdown. In 2022, Tyrique entered the summer series while Samie appeared on Winter Love Island. He coupled up with Ella Thomas, his first girlfriend. Following a breakup with Ella in early 2024, Tyrique confessed he’d had Samie “always in his head.” By December 2023, he publicly expressed interest in pursuing a connection with Samie on Grace Beverly’s Saving Grace podcast, even attempting to “make a move,” which Samie swiftly rebuffed. Prior to Love Island All Stars, the pair weren’t speaking, according to Tyrique.

The All Stars era saw Tyrique openly admiring Samie, prompting speculation—which, in hindsight, seems remarkably prescient. Just days after Samie and Ciaran Davies secured a surprising victory (a victory Tyrique, with a touch of audacity, suggested the public might want to rethink), he sent flowers to Samie’s home, obtaining her address through a mutual friend—while she was still ostensibly in a relationship with Ciaran. Ciaran himself confirmed this gesture.

The breakup between Samie and Ciaran, announced just weeks after their win, added another layer of complexity. Tyrique’s response, relayed on the podcast, was blunt: “Aight cool, game on then.” The subsequent Instagram trip to Morocco served as the public “hard launch” of their relationship, a move met with a mixture of shock and intrigue.