Seán Fitzgerald: I didn’t expect to fall in love — I thought I'd be with new girl every week 

Six weeks after entering the Love Island villa, Galway footballer and primary school teacher Seán 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald shocked fans by leaving days before the final.

Seán 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald in Dublin having returned from his time at the Love island Villa. Picture: Brian McEvoy

It is unlucky for some, but Love Island continues to dominate in its thirteenth season. Despite declining UK viewership, the ITV dating show remains event television for reality TV fanatics and hopeless romantics alike. And if you aren’t watching live, chances are you’re catching up via social media recaps and reactions.

The premise is as irresistible as ever: can you spend eight weeks in a Mallorcan villa with a group of strangers and find the love of your life? The £50,000 prize fund is appealing too, no doubt.

Since its debut in 2015, the format has remained largely unchanged, but Irish representation has steadily increased, with producers undoubtedly hoping to launch another Maura Higgins into the celebrity stratosphere. In an era of manufactured reality TV, where viewers increasingly complain of overproduction, Higgins’ candour and humour cut through. (The Longford native has since leveraged her stint on Love Island into a successful TV career spanning reality competitions and presenting roles in both the UK and the US).

Seán 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald reacts to seeing fellow Irish contestant Charlene Murphy join the villa

It makes complete sense, then, that producers turned to Charleen Murphy, one of Ireland’s most recognisable influencers, and Seán ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald, a GAA player with an existing social media following, as this year’s Irish contingent.

But the producers decision to bring Murphy in as a ‘bombshell’ left her at a disadvantage. Entering the villa after the original cast means you have little time to establish a connection, and thirteen seasons in, OG Islanders know that coupling up early remains the safest route to the latter stages of the competition.

Fitzgerald, meanwhile, entered as an OG Islander and coupled up with detective Lola Deal just four days into the series, following a well-trodden path towards the final. But after six weeks, the couple found themselves in the bottom three of the public vote and decided to walk away on their terms.

Lola Deal with Seán Fitzgerald. Picture: Karwai Tang

“I was happy to leave,” Fitzgerald says, speaking at Dublin’s Conrad Hotel during a whirlwind trip home for media promotion.

“The last few weeks were a bit like Groundhog Day, and I was thinking about club football coming up.”

“We weren’t getting anything else from it. We were all tested out.”

Fitzgerald, 25, remained loyal to Deal (depending on how you view his Casa Amor antics) straight through to their exit.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” he says. “I thought I was going to go in there and couple up with a different girl every week … I knew I’d find someone, but I didn’t expect to fall in love with someone.”

Asked what it was about Deal that drew him to her, he’s blunt.

“I just thought she was so hot,” he laughs. “She’s very naturally pretty and that’s what I go for.

Obviously, looks dry out and personality keeps you there. [She] is hilarious; she likes my weird humour and banter. And I vibe off that.

Their relationship was heavily scrutinised from the get-go. That’s Love Island tradition. The show is as much about strategy as it is about love (the cynics will debate the percentages for each), and their journey wasn’t without its tests.

Seán 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald: 'The last few weeks were a bit like Groundhog Day, and I was thinking about club football coming up.' Picture: Brian McEvoy

In Casa Amor — a fresh batch of equally attractive men and women arrive to break up existing couples and ‘steal’ partners — Fitzgerald questioned whether he had closed himself off too soon. After admitting he wanted to be tested, Casa Amor bombshell Julia Majchrzak attempted to pursue a connection with him. Fitzgerald ultimately chose to remain loyal to Deal, but Majchrzak’s advances didn’t sit well with Fitzy’s original beau.

Majchrzak’s and Deal’s exchanges resulted in some of the most viral moments of the season (including Majchrzak telling Deal to “póg mo thóin”), but it is Deal who has largely faced backlash from the public.

“The Julia thing … that wasn’t to do with me, as such, that was more the two of them,” Fitzgerald says. “[Julia] just kept bringing it up, again and again and again. It was really bothering Lola, because she was [saying], ‘we don’t need to keep talking about it’.

“We’ve no bad blood with [Julia],” he insists, “She’s grand. It’s just a difference of opinions.”

As for regrets, Fitzgerald is disappointed “the craic” he brought to the villa didn’t always make the final edit.

What I really wanted to come across was that I was respectful to women and a bit of craic. I think I was very respectful to the women.

Looking ahead, Fitzgerald isn’t ruling out a return to teaching.

“Before I went in, I was typing into ChatGPT for the Heart Rate Challenge, asking, ‘What dances can I do that won’t get me in trouble as a primary school teacher?’”

He’s grateful that his principal, who is a fan of the show, is “so sound” and told him to “go for it”.

“The thing I missed the most was the kids,” he admits.

Fionnuala Jones chats to Seán Fitzgerald (Fitzy) in Dublin having returned from his time at the Love island Villa

But while he never thought he would do the show (“I did a video taking the piss of Love Island. The next day, they got me to do a Zoom audition”), the appeal of reality TV is obvious, and he says he’s eager to do more.

“One thing I’d love to do is I’m A Celeb. They’d show more of my craic. I think that would be hilarious.”

“I’d be open to most things. I’m looking to get in to podcasting, TV, all of that.”

As for a return to the pitch for Barna versus Caltra on August 2, don’t hold your breath: “I don’t know if they’d want me... I haven’t trained in 12 weeks!”

Deal, he says, will be visiting Ireland after the dust has settled on the final, and Fitzgerald is excited to show her everything that Ireland has to offer, including a “spice bag spree” and a meal in Pádraicíns Seafood Bar in Furbogh.

• ‘Love Island’ concludes on Monday. Fionnuala Jones will host a sold-out watch party at Opium Dublin with fellow Cork influencer Pádraig Wilson McCarthy