Love Islander Tanyel Revan on bringing Maura Higgins’s direct style to the villa

Incoming Love Islander Tanyel Revan has said she feels she is similar to former contestant Maura Higgins in how direct she will be in the villa.

The 26-year-old hairstylist from north London said that in past relationships men have initially been drawn to her opinionated personality, but later decided she was “quite intimidating”.

She will be one of 10 islanders entering the villa in South Africa for the new winter series of the ITV2 reality show, which launches on Monday.

Before entering the villa, she confirmed she will be be “very” direct on the show.

Asked whether she admired any previous Love Islander’s forthright approach, she said: “I love Maura. I think she’s hilarious.

“I actually think in some ways (she is) similar to me with how loud she was.

“I would rather be someone like her than someone who’s too quiet and doesn’t share their opinion but has a lot of thoughts in their head, because I think it’s healthier to actually say how you’re feeling.”

Tanyel added that she will usually confront issues head-on but there are times when she has to take a step back if she becomes too angry.

She said: “I don’t really walk away from a row – I’m very calm but I can be quite argumentative at times and I do love to get my point across there and then, normally.

“So I have to be really, really angry for me to walk away, because if I’m so angry, I know I’m not going to say the right things and that’s the only way I’d walk away from an argument.

“Because I’d rather say it when I know what I’m saying and how I’m thinking and feeling, because obviously, when you’re angry, you just say all the wrong things.”

She added that she is prepared for her personality to not be liked by all viewers, saying: “You can’t make everyone happy and as long as I stay true to myself, then I’m not going to be too bothered.

“As long as I’m not upsetting anyone by doing something maliciously then there’s only so much I can do, I can just be myself.”

TV salesman Haris Namani is also joining the villa for the new series and hopes his day job will help him sell his personality.

He said: “I’ve worked as a salesman for three and a half years so I’ve spoken to loads of different types of people, older generation, younger than me, so I feel like I’ve mastered it, you could say.

“I’m not an awkward person at all. Anyone can come speak to me or get in a situation.”

The 21-year-old from Doncaster admitted he has never found “the right one” to take home to meet his family, and hopes Love Island will help change that.

“On Love Island, you get the best of the best. You get people from different areas,” he said.

“I think it will be the best opportunity to find the right one.

“Can you imagine if I found a connection at the start and lived with her for nine weeks every day like doing all this stuff?

“With girls, I was always working as a salesman and I was always training and I might go see them on the weekend for a few hours (but) I don’t think it was enough and I wasn’t going to change my lifestyle for that.

“I’ve always been into training 24/7, I’ve always worked, but obviously with this, that’s all out the window.”

The new series, with Maya Jama as the new host after taking over from Laura Whitmore, is the show’s first winter series since before the coronavirus pandemic.

Made In Chelsea star Sam Thompson and Indiyah Polack, who was a finalist on the show last year, are joining as regular panellists on Love Island’s Aftersun programme.

Love Island returns on Monday January 16 at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.