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Louise Thomas
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Love Island’s 2024 winners Mimii Ngulube and Josh Oyinsan have split two months after winning the competition.
The mental health nurse from Portsmouth, 24, and the semi-professional footballer from Dartford, 29, made history as the first Black couple to win the ITV dating competition in July, with their victory coming just over a week after another Black couple, Serena Page and Kordell Beckham, won Love Island USA.
Posting on Instagram, Ngulube said she and her boyfriend “have been trying to figure it out since leaving the villa but unfortunately things aren’t going to work out between us right now”.
Fans noticed recently that the pair were no longer following each other on Instagram and Oyinsan had not liked Ngulube’s posts as usual.
Ngulube said online that she was aware that fans were “wondering about Josh and I and why we haven’t been making appearances”.
She continued: “I know it’s a big disappointment for a lot of you as it is for me too, your support for us hasn’t gone unnoticed and I will forever be grateful for it.”
“You guys are the reason we made it to this point”.
At the time of writing, Oyinsan has not commented on the split.
Early on in the competition, Ngulube had originally been coupled up with Ayo Odukoya but that all changed when he returned from the other villa with a new partner, Jess Spencer.
Oyinsan arrived on the show as a bombshell contestant and instantly coupled up with Ngulube.
During their final declarations of love ahead of the winner announcement, Ngulube had praised Oyinsan for being “attentive, kind, gentle and loving”. She added: “Thank you for showing me the qualities that I thought were unrealistic in this day and age.”
He responded: “When I’m watching you fall asleep on my chest, it feels like nothing else matters in the world and I’m at total peace.”
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Ngulube and Oyinsan beat Welsh couple Nicole Samuel and Ciaran Davies, taking home the £50,000 first place prize. Fellow islanders Matilda Draper and Sean Stone came third on the show, while Jessica Spencer and Ayo Odukoya placed fourth.
Reflecting on making history as the first Black couple to win the contest, the pair told The Guardian that they were stunned by the milestone.
“We never went in there thinking: ‘We want to be the first Black couple to win this,’” Oyinsan said.
“It is an amazing thing that’s happened,” added Ngulube. “It didn’t really sink in until I saw all the articles and comments on it, which shows how impactful it has been in such a good way. It’s quite humbling.”
