Millie Court and Liam Reardon have revealed the real reason why they split in their first joint interview since getting back together.
The couple, who won the 2021 series of Love Island, rekindled their romance earlier this year after splitting in July 2022.
Speaking to MailOnline, the reality stars opened up about giving their relationship a second chance.
Millie explained: “It didn’t end sourly, it wasn’t that kind of breakup. It was a decision that we needed a break.
“I think we both knew it wasn’t going to be something that ended forever. I think we knew it was something we wanted to revisit but it was time that we needed.
“We managed to make it work again and now it’s better than ever.”
The 26-year-old continued: “Liam was 21 when he went on the show and had his birthday in there and he’s 24 now and I’m coming up to 27! So we’re maybe a bit more mature as well.”
Millie and Liam only recently confirmed their reunion, after keeping it a secret for months.
Explaining why they decided to keep it under wraps, Liam said: “People have private lives and can’t put everything on social media. And we were on the building blocks of our relationship together.
“We went our separate ways last year and that was partly because so many people felt like they were involved in our relationship and stuck their noses in.
“Some people obviously were being friendly but sometimes you just want a bit of privacy.”
“We decided if we’re going to make this work, we have to make it work for us and not let other people interfere. Especially in the early stages.”
Liam continued: “A lot of people feel like they are being lovely which we do appreciate the support, but sometimes it can be too much.
“When you’re going through a breakup as well and everyone’s going, ‘Oh you should’ve stayed together!’ As much as we do live our lives on social media, we do want our privacy as well.”
Millie added: “We just wanted to work on us and have fun and build our relationship and not have anyone’s opinions on it at that time.”
