Jake Cornish has revealed he and Liberty Poole “gave things another try” after leaving the Love Island villa.
The pair were coupled up from day one of the dating show last year, and they made things official while in the villa.
However, their relationship broke down just days before the final – after Liberty questioned Jake’s intentions.
In a new interview with The Sun, Jake admitted he was “devastated” when Liberty decided to call off their relationship, and said they tried to make things work on the outside world.
The water engineer said of their split: “I only had one girlfriend before her, my childhood sweetheart. I’d never been dumped and it hurt. One minute we were planning a holiday together and arranging to meet each other’s families, the next it was over.”
“I was devastated, I couldn’t think straight. My family was asking how my mental health was. Something made her decide that we weren’t right for each other and I had to take it on the chin.”
He continued: “Liberty was my cup of tea, but it took me a while to get to know her and for those feelings to grow. I’ve always been with blondes with blue eyes and big boobs — and we clicked.”
“We would talk for hours and laugh the entire time. We were planning a future together and saying we couldn’t wait to meet each other’s families. I had genuine feelings for her.”
“I was mocked for calling her my girlfriend and the producers even prolonged it so it sounded like ‘girrrrrl-friend’. But what was I supposed to call her?”
The 24-year-old said: “I had been in a long-term relationship for seven years before I went on Love Island. I wanted to find love again. I thought I had that with Lib — I was in love.”
“When I asked her to be my girlfriend she said, ‘I’ve never loved anyone like you’.”
Jake and Liberty’s relationship began to break down after Lib was shown a clip of her beau admitting he didn’t want to rip her clothes off.
Jake explained: “Lib is a good-looking girl but there was something that wasn’t giving me that urge early on. I’m not used to Brummie and sometimes I didn’t understand a word she said.”
“She did have annoying habits, like when she used to put empty orange juice cartons back in the fridge. I am big on cleanliness and my house is spotless. We had banter about her messiness.”
“Lib made me laugh, which is priceless. Getting to know her more and kissing and cuddling every day, and getting a bit cheeky in the villa — that speaks for itself. I definitely did rip her clothes off in the end. We had a little bit of fun. We’re adults and when you have feelings it’s natural to get closer.”
Speaking about their secret reunion after the show ended, Jake said: “We decided we would give it a try. We were talking, but we had to agree that we were not right for each other.”
“When it was announced she was on Dancing On Ice I sent her a message saying, ‘Well done Lib’. She replied, ‘Thank you’ and that is the last time I spoke to her.”
“I still haven’t found love, but I don’t think I’d ever get back with Lib,” he added.
