Love island's samie & tyrique: a timeline of six years & shady revelations
The Instagram couple photos from Morocco were a carefully orchestrated reveal, but the story behind Samie Elishi and Tyrique Hyde’s romance is far more tangled than a perfectly posed vacation snapshot. Just days after Samie won Love Island All Stars with Ciaran Davies, a bombshell dropped via a podcast appearance, laying bare a six-year history and a series of calculated maneuvers that have left fans reeling.
The pre-villa connection: boohoo & missed signals
Rewind to around 2020. Both Samie and Tyrique were navigating the early stages of their influencer careers, and fate (or perhaps a promotional event) brought them together at a Boohoo gathering. Tyrique, accompanied by fellow Love Island alum Toby Aromolaran, reportedly snagged Samie’s Instagram handle, but nothing materialized then. Both would later enter the Love Island villa—Samie in Winter 2022, finishing third, and Tyrique in Summer 2022, forming a connection with Ella Thomas. Six years, two separate Love Island stints, and a whole lot of dating later, the stage was set for a dramatic reunion.
The post-villa pursuit & podcast bombshell
After a turbulent breakup with Ella Thomas in early 2024, Tyrique revealed on the Not My Bagg podcast that Samie had been “always in his head.” He admitted to publicly expressing interest in December 2023, during an appearance on Grace Beverly's Saving Grace podcast, even attempting to “make a move.” Samie, however, reportedly dismissed his advances. The timeline gets even more convoluted when Tyrique claims he received “murmurs” that Samie and Ciaran's relationship was faltering shortly after All Stars concluded. This led him to send flowers to Samie’s home—obtained through a mutual friend—while she was still technically coupled with Ciaran.
Fan backlash & tyrique's defense
The recent Morocco trip and subsequent Instagram posts ignited a firestorm of speculation and criticism. Tyrique, addressing the uproar on Not My Bagg, offered a blunt assessment: “You lot voting for them to win, hold the L.” He’s even gone so far as to suggest viewers “pick a better winner next time.” While acknowledging the potential disrespect towards Ciaran and his mother’s disapproval, Tyrique justified his actions with a shrug: “I don’t know him…the game is kinda the game.” He emphatically denied any suggestion of a publicity stunt, pointing out that pursuing Samie, rather than a more universally liked personality, wouldn't make sense for gaining clout.
The full podcast episode is expected to drop soon, promising further insights into this increasingly complicated saga.