EXCLUSIVE: Love Island 2025 star Harry Cooksley has revealed that England pro Declan Rice will be tuning into the ITV show and even offered him some words of wisdom
20:00, 05 Jun 2025Updated 20:02, 05 Jun 2025
Harry Cooksley
Harry is setting foot in the Love island villa(Image: ITV)
Declan Rice is set to tune in for the new series of Love Island.
The England ace is pals with contestant Harry Cooksley and wants to see how he gets on. When the new series kicks off on Monday (June 9), he’ll be among the millions of us hooked.
Harry told Daily Star: "I spoke to Declan about me doing Love Island. He was happy for me and really excited for me. He’ll be supporting from outside the villa.”
Declan has offered the lad some advice on how to be a hit in the TV villa. Harry said: “He told me to be myself on the show."
Harry [right] is pals with Declan Rice and works as the footy star's body double(Image: HarryCooksley8/Instagram)
They pair first met because Harry is Declan’s body double for photoshoots. It’s a job that requires him to be in tip top shape so he can pass for a pro footballer.
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He said: "When there are shoots, they don’t have loads of time with the players. So when it’s Declan, the close-up shots will be my body.
Declan Rice of Arsenal during the Arsenal press conference and media duties
Declan told Harry to 'be himself' on Love island(Image: Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
"He has got some time off over the summer, so he’ll be fine without me around to be his body double." Harry will enter the villa alongside 11 other singletons. He added: “I’ll talk about what I do and I want to find out what everyone else does."
Harry is a footballer himself and plays for Farnham Town. In fact, he’s so good that he’s been dubbed “the Surrey Zidane” by fans.
The 30-year-old from Guilford is hoping he will find his dream woman in the villa. He said: “I’m going on Love Island because I would like to meet someone who is confident enough in themselves.
The 30-year-old wants to meet a "girl next door" type(Image: HarryCooksley8/Instagram)
"I feel like I meet a lot of people who don’t really know who they are." Asked what kind of woman he likes, he replied: "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."
Harry won’t be short of options because this year’s line-up include motivational speaker Sophie Lee, payroll specialist Meg Moore, air hostess Helena Ford, marketing exec Shakira Khan, musical theatre star Megan Forte Clarke and wealth management expert Alima Gagigo.
Host Maya Jama has admitted she’s hoping there will be quite a bit of drama on the show this summer. She said: "I love Movie Night as it is always full of drama. My glam team definitely help to psych me up for the next twist and shock arrival."
The series kicks off on Monday at 9pm on ITV2.
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