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Louise Thomas
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Mimii Ngulube and Josh Oyinsan have reacted to making history as the first ever Black couple to win Love Island.
The mental health nurse from Portsmouth, 24, and the semi-professional footballer from Dartford, 29, were crowned winners of the 11th season of the reality TV dating show by host Maya Jama. Viewers chose them as their favourite couple with 41 per cent of the public vote.
Ngulube and Oyinsan beat Welsh couple Nicole Samuel and Ciaran Davies, who finished as runners-up, to 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.
Their victory came just over a week after another Black couple, Serena Page and Kordell Beckham, won Love Island USA.
“We never went in there thinking: ‘We want to be the first Black couple to win this,’” Oyinsan told The Guardian.
“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.”
Historically, the show has faced criticism for the experience of Black contestants, who have complained of microaggressions among other issues. Producers made changes to the format, getting rid of “humiliating” lineups in which contestants of minority backgrounds were often left appearing unwanted. Last year’s Summer series boasted six Black Islanders out of an original lineup of 18.
Although Kai Fagan and Sanam Harrinanan made history as the first ever couple of a minority ethnic background to win the show in 2023’s Winter season, Ngulube and Oyinsan are its first ever Black victors.
“Being a person of colour, you know there’s always going to be struggles,” said Oyinsan. “But I never let that stop me. I believe in what I hold, what I am and my character.
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“I like to believe we’ve come a long way as a country [and] judge people more on their character, and us winning is testament to that.”
Love Island runner up Whitney Adebayo called the win “overdue” in a TikTok posted shortly after the finale, and acknowledged it as a “moment to be celebrated”.
“I feel like there’s so many Black women that go on a reality TV show and they’re not given their accolades,” she said.
“I think Samira was the first ever Black girl to go on Love Island, but then there’s been Yewande, there’s been Kaz, there’s been Rachel, Leanne, Indiyah, Catherine.
“There’s been so many of us and we’ve never been given our flowers, so it’s not about Mimii winning.
“I think this one’s about the fact that she represents so many of us that have come before her and as well as the Black girls that are looking up to her.
“For us it’s bigger than that, like you need to understand it took a decade. It took ten years. Ten years, eleven series for this to happen. So for the Black community it’s a big thing.”
In an interview shortly after their win, Ngulube said she was “shocked” but added: “Hopefully it will set pace for more diverse representation.”
Meanwhile, Oyinsan seconded her sentiments as he added: “I definitely feel proud. To be able to add a little bit to help balance the scales, if it means greater diverse representation, that is great. We are just happy to write history.”
