Here's where Love Island's Dami Hope is taking Indiyah during her first visit to Ireland
Dami Hope pictured at the Virgin Media Television New Season Launch Picture: Brian McEvoy
Love Island’s Dami Hope is looking forward to showing off Ireland and putting one particular rumour to bed as girlfriend Indiyah Polack prepares for her first trip across the pond next week.
An original cast member of this year’s Love Island, Irish lad Dami Hope made it all the way to the final with his partner Indiyah. After a summer of romance, drama and plenty of one-liners, the pair are looking to the future but first, Londoner Indiyah must meet the parents and pay a visit to Ireland.
Originally from Co Wexford, 26-year-old Dami admits that he usually tells people in the UK that he’s from Dublin to avoid any confusion, though he has been living in the capital for the past two years.
“I’m actually from Wexford but you know when you’re in the UK, when people ask you where you’re from, if I say Wexford, they’re like, ‘where’s that?’.”
Since leaving the famous Love Island villa, Dami, who came in third place, says he has been “freestyling it” and going between Ireland and London to see Indiyah.
But next week he has plans to finally bring his girlfriend to Ireland and introduce her to his parents in person for the first time. As well as getting the seal of approval from mam and dad, Dami is excited to show her some of the sites in his adopted city, Dublin.
But one thing he is really looking forward to is proving that Ireland does in fact have shopping centres after 23-year-old Indiyah seemed quite surprised by this fact while they were in the villa.
“Aside from meeting my parents, probably a shopping centre so we can actually get that out there so she can admit on video that there are shopping centres in Ireland and showing her a spice bag, just showing her around Dublin and the culture,” he explains.
“Do the whole tourist stuff, Guinness — even though I don’t like Guinness I’m going to do that as well because why not?”
The microbiologist is currently looking for recommendations for the best shopping centre that is sure to make a good first impression but at the moment, he reckons Dundrum may be his best bet.
Since returning to Ireland with his new-found Love Island fame, New Ross native Dami says he has been receiving a lot of support.
“It’s really nice because there’s a lot of supportive people, they come up to me and everyone is excited and they’re happy and it's nice. There’s some people that even hit me up and they’re like ‘Oh Dami you made my summer so fun. I was so entertained' — all of these cute comments that you get and it's genuinely nice.”
However, while in the villa, the Love Island finalist did cause a stir when he decided to recouple with Summer Botwe in Casa Amor rather than staying with Indiyah. But after a bit of drama, Dami and Indiyah eventually found their way back to one another.
“One thing that I probably would regret is probably the way I kind of went at Summer. I feel like I didn’t really need to blow up the way I did. But for me, I had pure reasons,” he explains, describing a row they had after he had rekindled things with Indiyah.
“It’s edited to look like Dami is just acting out. Whereas with Summer, I was so honest, and I explained everything every step of the way so for me, when she reacted the way she did, I just blew up but I didn't really have to blow up.”
“I acted a bit too wild at Casa Amor. I was having too much fun. I’d probably reign it in a bit more but to be honest, I’d probably just do the same thing again,” he adds.
Dami says that he never thought about winning the show or even coming close to the final and just wanted to ensure he remained true to himself throughout.
Right now, he says things are “fantastic” with Indiyah and they are even looking at taking things to the next level.
“We’re thinking of moving in together maybe a little bit after September because things are a bit busy right now to start looking for a house. Things are rosy,” he says.
“I didn’t think I would fall this deep in love but I’m out here in love and stuff. It’s very cringey to say out loud but I just keep saying it.”
As for his future plans, Dami is hoping to move more into the world of fashion after some of his outfits made an impression while he was in the villa.
Speaking on his hopes for the future, he says: “Just be a person for the people but be a person for myself as well, do stuff that’s fashion related. Stuff that lets me showcase my personality.”
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