WES Nelson has revealed he turned down a place on Love Island All Stars after returning to the villa to perform as a celebrity guest.
The show favourite realised a dream when he teamed up with musical hero Craig on previous single Abracadabra.
The duo jetted into the All Stars villa in South Africa back in January and put on an energetic performance that got the contestants dancing.
It seemed inevitable that bosses would try and get single Wes to return to the recently confirmed season two, but he politely declined the invitation.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun to promote new track Barcelona, which is out today, he said: “I love the producers and the team, they’re absolute legends. Of course there was a question, but at the same time I was there to perform with a legend.”
He added: “I wouldn’t go back on as a contestant.”
While that part of his career is firmly closed, Wes has nothing but fondness for the show and at no point considered turning down the return as a musical guest.
“No, I embrace it, you know, it’s part of my history,” he said.
“I’m happy to be known as an artist and not just an Islander, you know what I mean? I don’t feel like it fulfils me in the sense that I didn’t feel like I was being productive with my passion, if that makes sense.
“Obviously music is my passion. It’s what I love to do. I actually ran at it. It was part of my history and going back on there as a music artist, if anything, it’s like, it’s refreshing.
“It’s like, ‘wow, look he’s come quite far. He’s done his thing and he’s come back as a music artist’.
“Like it was really cool. And especially performing next to Craig, you can’t really ask for much more.”
Wes has become a bona fide music star since releasing first single See Nobody back in 2020, which peaked at number three in the UK charts.
The following year he featured on Clean Bandit’s track Drive, which cracked the top 20, and he has collaborated with superstar rapper French Montana on Fly Away.
His latest single, which he did with star production duo Billen Ted, samples noughties classic Barcelona by D Kay, Epsilon & Stamina.
Speaking ahead of its release, Wes said: “Every time I show people they’re like ‘I can’t wait to go mad in the clubs to this’.
“It’s looking good, some of the shows we do people are going absolutely feral. Like the reaction to it’s been really, really fun. I just want people to let their hair down with this one.
“It’s not a deep song. It’s not something that needs to be really taken in. It’s just to be enjoyed, if that makes sense, and obviously pay homage and do the original justice.” If we get a couple of comments on that, I’ll be, I’ll be happy.”
The move into drum n’ bass territory came when the track played on Wes’s tour bus.
Immediately, he knew he wanted to put his spin on it.
He said: “We were like ‘oh my God, this was such a banger’. It just gives me summer vibes every time I hear it. It gives you that feel good factor.”
When he couldn’t find it on any streaming platform, Wes decided he would give it a revamp and freshen it up for a new audience. He reached out to the song’s creators who were all for it, and Billen Ted quickly got on board.
“We were unsure how it was even gonna come out because it really isn’t my sort of sonic,” said Wes. “But I love testing myself, obviously like the garage stuff with Craig [David] and then we’ve done Afro Swing, Drive, which is completely opposite, almost like pop house, and so like this is another feather in the cap.
“I was just like well this has got to be the next one, a bit of drum and bass, pop drum and bass, so yeah really happy with how it’s come out and I’m glad I tested myself with it.”
