EKIN-SU Culculoglu issued Love Island All Stars bosses a “deal breaker” while negotiating her return to the villa as a bombshell.
The 30-year-old model is now in hiding in South Africa ahead of her appearance on the show – but only after ‘very drawn out’ talks with execs had wrapped.
Ekin told ITV that she would only make a comeback to the show if they agreed to a “major condition”.
She has demanded that her ex boyfriend, Davide Sanclimenti, must not turn up at the villa at any point in the series.
Although they won Love Island 2022 with a landslide vote, Ekin and Davide’s split exactly one year ago was very hostile.
Ekin found the break-up incredibly tough and is conscious of how much it affected her disastrous stint in Celebrity Big Brother.
The star has worked hard to ‘make progress’ on herself and fears that coming face-to-face with Davide could be a disaster.
A source told The Sun: “Ekin’s negotiations to do All Stars took a long time as she really went back and forth on it, but eventually she told bosses she would sign on the dotted line with one major condition – they had to agree not to put Davide in the villa at any point as a bombshell.
“This wasn’t Ekin being a diva, it’s more than she went through hell towards the end of the relationship and during the break-up.
“A lot of that played out with how she came across on Celebrity Big Brother and she has only just got back to a good place in the last few months.
“The last thing she wants is to have to be in a villa with her ex and undo all the progress she has made on herself.”
The source went on to explain that ITV execs agreed to Ekin’s stipulation, especially as some are “not fans” of Italian model Davide.
“Bosses were more than happy to agree as they were desperate to land Ekin and didn’t want to do anything to jeopardise that,” the source added.
“Furthermore, several of the bigwigs are not fans of Davide and believe he was very controlling in that relationship and didn’t treat Ekin well.”
The Sun exclusively revealed this week that Ekin-Su has signed up to this year’s series of Love Island All Stars.
Branded a “chaotic masterpiece” by fans in 2022, she was quick to win over viewers and is hoping to do the same again.
Love Island All Stars is returning to TV for season 2.
Here we take you through the line-up of Islanders’ who are set to go into the villa so far.
Bombshell rumours
Each series brings with it a string of hot single bombshells making their epic entrance into the villa.
Here’s who is rumoured to be going into the villa so far:
An insider said: “ITV bosses have long wanted Ekin back in Love Island and she’s finally agreed.
“After she split with Davide last January bosses immediately put her on their wish list.
“It took a lot of back and forth to persuade her to go back into the villa, especially after Ekin had such a tough time on Celebrity Big Brother.
“But she wants to use this new stint on Love Island All Stars to redeem herself and remind the public why they love her.
“ITV bosses haven’t decided if she’ll be a day one star, or a bombshell, but whatever happens she is telly gold and is going to be an incredible addition to the line up.”
Love Island All Stars kicks off on Monday (January 13) and features a stellar line-up of former islanders.
Curtis Pritchard, Luca Bish, India Reynolds and Gabby Allen are just some of the names you can expect to see in the South African villa.
