Curtis Pritchard has opened up about the backlash he received following his split with Maura Higgins.
The former couple announced their split in March after meeting on last summer’s Love Island, with Curtis then being pictured kissing professional dancer Amber Pierson just months after she denied claims that they hooked up behind Maura’s back.
After the photos hit headlines, Maura cryptically tweeted, “The truth always comes out in the end,” before she and a host of other Love Island stars unfollowed Curtis.
When asked about the backlash on Virgin Media’s The Six O’Clock Show, Curtis admitted: “I don’t really look into that side of things that much.”
“I’m just grateful for how the show propelled me and my career and I loved every second of it.
“Whatever you do then you open yourself up to the public eye, you open your relationship, work-life, everything up to the public,” he explained.
“Therefore you open yourself up to people’s opinions. I’m always aware of that so I try not to think about any of the backlash.”
“I just feel like there’s bigger things going on in the world and bigger situations,” he added, “I really want to focus on my career moving forward.”
Curtis recently confirmed his split from Amber, admitting the relationship “fizzled out”.
The couple were first linked shortly after Curtis and Maura’s split, but at the time they both insisted they were just friends.
Amber released a statement on her Instagram Story addressing her relationship with Curtis at the time – after an anonymous Twitter account alleged they had seen them kissing.
She wrote: “I didn’t want to speak out about this, but I feel I have to as I have been receiving a few abusive messages recently regarding what’s been in the papers.”
“To be very clear, Curtis and I have never been together. We are simply friends and dance partners! There are 13 dancers going on tour, and I am one of them.”
“The ‘cheating’ allegations this week are out of the blue and are complete lies. I wanted no part in this but what I will say is Curtis is genuinely a lovely and talented guy, who doesn’t deserve any of this,” she added.
