Maura Higgins admits she didn’t fancy Chris Taylor ‘at all’ during the 2019 series of Love Island and says they barely kissed before making their shock romance official.
The Irish star, 30, claims her mother was the only person who predicted her relationship with Chris, 30, despite speculation they had kept things secret for months.
In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Maura revealed she eventually fell for the tattooed Harry Potter fan after being ‘attracted to their friendship.’
‘It happened so quick’: Maura Higgins admits she didn’t fancy Chris Taylor during the 2019 series of Love Island and says they barely kissed before making their shock romance official
Speaking about her new relationship for the first time, she said: ‘It happened so quick between us.
‘Obviously there was a lot of press about us for so long but we were genuinely just friends, nothing had ever happened – we hadn’t even kissed. I started going on dates again and everything.
‘Chris and I never believed it would progress into something more than just a friendship. But now looking at it, friendship is a good foundation to a relationship and it just seems to work.
‘I honestly never thought Chris was into me at all. I even asked him “did you fancy me in Love Island or what’s the story?” He said he did but when he asked me I told him “no I didn’t fancy you at all!”
Glamorous: The Irish star, who had an alleged fling with her Dancing On Ice partner Alexander Demetriou, claims her mum was the only person who predicted her romance with Chris
‘When Chris and I were just friends Mammy was always saying to me “the man for you is right in front of you and you haven’t clocked on yet.”
The reality star spoke to MailOnline about her new romance while posing in diamanté lingerie to celebrate hew new range with luxury tanning brand Bellamianta.
Maura went official with Chris in November by posting a loved up picture of them on holiday together.
It wasn’t long before the Instagram post went viral, as their reality star pals rushed to congratulate them on their new relationship.
Maura said: ‘I genuinely couldn’t believe the reaction. We didn’t even plan it that night.
‘We know each other so well’: In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Maura, revealed she eventually fell for the tattooed Harry Potter fan after being ‘attracted to their friendship’
‘We didn’t even plan it’: Maura went official with Chris in November by posting a loved up picture of them on holiday together and says the couple ‘couldn’t believe the reaction’
‘We spoke about it and thought “oh God, when will we tell people?” That night we got a nice picture and thought “do you know what, shall we just upload it and tell everyone?”
‘It was a lovely moment and we couldn’t believe all the messages we were receiving, people seemed so happy for us, which was really, really nice.’
But there’s one Islander who wasn’t pleased for the couple, with Maura’s ex-Curtis Pritchard, 24, saying he felt ‘hurt and upset’ when he saw the picture.
Maura and Curtis split in March last year amid reports they had argued at the National Television Awards and the ballroom dancer had been unfaithful, a claim he strongly denies.
‘He’s the male version of me’: Maura, who split from ex-Curtis Pritchard in March, said she and Chris ‘could spend every single second of every day together and not have an argument’
Having rows with her partner are a thing of the past for Maura, as despite facing the challenges of lockdown together as a new couple, she and Chris have never fallen out.
She said: ‘We get on very well – we could spend every single second of every day together and not have an argument.
‘We don’t argue, he’s the male version of me and we have such a laugh together.
‘It’s going very, very good. For me, I think it was the friendship that attracted him to me. We know each other so well.
‘I watched Harry Potter for him the other night and I said to him “this must be love” because I wouldn’t do this for anybody else!’
‘I said to him “this must be love”‘: The Love Island star believes Chris is The One after she treated him to a date night where they watched the Harry Potter films, that she is not a fan of
Lovebirds: Maura and Chris were rumoured to be dating for months before going public with their romance in November last year, when they celebrated the star’s 30th together in Dubai
Maura is celebrating the launch of her first range with Bellamianta, a tanning brand she has used since before she found fame on Love Island.
The seven-piece collection includes a hydrating Tanning Water, Summer Infused Tanning Mousse and a Summer Glow Bronzer, that Maura uses to ‘plaster all over her body.’
She said: ‘I’m so excited – Bellamianta is a product I’ve used for years and years. I actually worked with Bellamianta even before Love Island so I’m really excited to have my own collection with them now. It is a dream come true really.
‘I tan every single week, I love the moose and Summer Glow Bronzer, I plaster that all over my body because it gives such an amazing glow on the skin. It makes you feel good about yourself.’
‘It is a dream come true’: Maura is celebrating the launch of her first range with luxury tanning brand Bellamianta by starring in a stunning new shoot
Maura stars in a glamorous shoot for the brand that shows her wearing lace underwear and posing in a pink liquid – but the model admits she was freezing behind-the-scenes.
She said: ‘The shoot turned out really, really well to be fair. They were very creative with their props and I loved all the pink.
‘We did the picture in the water that was absolutely freezing but the image turned out incredible.
‘I remember I posted a photo on my story immediately after that shoot and I had about five towels covering me and I looked so angry. I was so cold!
‘People think photo shoots are easy but they’re actually very, very hard, you’re not only holding your body position but you’re thinking about not looking cold in freezing water, your body looking good, my face and everything – it’s tough but I love it.’
The full Bellamianta x Maura Higgins collection is available to buy online and in stores at Boots and Bellamianta’s website from Sunday February 24.