Love Island 2025 kicked off this week, and there is a contestant from Surrey who also boasts connections to Declan Rice
Love Island 2025 kicked off this week, and there is a contestant from Surrey who also boasts connections to Declan Rice
Surrey is yet again represented on one of the UK's most popular reality TV shows, Love Island. The eight-week long show, which started airing this week, has begun with it's 12 initial contestants doing their best to grab the attention of social media.
Representing Surrey in the villa this year is Harry Cooksley, a 30-year-old from Guildford who works as a gold trader, semi-professional footballer and model, which is where his connections to Declan Rice come in.
This year's show kicked off on Monday (June 9). By Tuesday, the villa had already seen its first two contestants kicked off in a dumping branded "cruel" by fans. As a result, two new bombshells entered the Mallorca villa. Fortunately for Harry, he survived the first round of shock exits, finding himself a partner in Shakira, a 22-year-old from Burnley.
The 30-year-old Guildfordian says his "claim to fame" is that he is the body double for Arsenal and England footballer Declan Rice. Telling ITV before the show began, he said: "So when he does a shoot, any body close ups will actually be me. You’ll never see my face, but you’ll see my shoulder or chest, that kind of thing."
Speaking about one his hobbies, the Farnham Town FC midfielder added: "I play the piano. I wanted to be able to serenade a girl, so I went for piano lessons and made sure that I could play three songs well."
In the villa, Harry said the type of islander he would like to couple up with would be "the girl next door that makes me laugh and can hold eye contact with me". "I don’t think I’d go for the most obvious girl, I like a real sweet girl," he added.
Harry says his main job is being a professional footballer, playing midfield for league team Farnham Town in the South Central Division. Harry has also reportedly played for teams including AFC Wimbledon and Farnborough and, during his career, has managed to coin the nickname "The Surrey Zidane".
On Instagram, Cooksley (@harrycooksley8) has already managed to garner an impressive following prior to his appearance on Love Island. Boasting around 12,000 followers in the days before, which has since shot up to 15,000 following the start of the show.