Mimii and Josh split after winning 2024 series
ITV / Shutterstock
Mimii Ngulube and Josh Oyinsan split the £50,000 prize fund after winning the latest series of Love Island
Love Island’s 2024 winners Mimii Ngulube and Josh Oyinsan have split.
The pair made history in July when they became the first black couple to win the reality show since it launched nine years ago.
Posting on Instagram, Mimii said she and Josh “have been trying to figure it out since leaving the villa but unfortunately things aren’t going to work out between us right now”.
Josh hasn’t yet commented on the break-up.
The couple were pictured together at the National Television Awards on 11 September but fans had noticed the two hadn’t been seen together in public at many other events.
Revealing the split, Mimii acknowledged “a lot of you have been wondering about Josh and I and why we haven’t been making appearances”.
“I know it’s a big disappointment for a lot of you as it is for me too,” she wrote.
“Your support for us hasn’t gone unnoticed and I will forever be grateful for it.”
She finished her statement by telling fans they were “the reason we made it to this point”.
Getty Images
Josh and Mimi were photographed together at the NTAs but fans haven’t seen them together much
Mimii, a mental health nurse from Portsmouth, coupled up with semi-professional footballer Josh, from Dartford, after returning single from Casa Amor.
She’d originally been coupled up with Ayo Odukoya who returned from the other villa with a new partner, Jess Spencer.
Josh was an island bombshell and after coupling up with Mimii they beat Ayo and Jess in the final, as well as other finalists Nicole Samuel and Ciaran Davies, and Matilda Draper and Sean Stone.
‘Representation on a primetime show’
In the past, Love Island has faced criticism over how inclusive it is for black and Asian islanders.
So when Mimii and Josh won, 1Xtra’s Nadia Jae told BBC Newsbeat it was a big moment.
“For younger people that are watching, it’s good to see that representation on a primetime show,” she said.
“I do understand that it can’t be everybody in the villa, but there are beautiful people from all different diasporas that need to be represented.”
The 2024 series of Love Island was one of its best performing with audiences in years after a dip in viewing figures since its heyday in 2019.
ITV said about 2 million people tuned in for the opening episode – up from 1.3 million in 2023.
The series also featured TOWIE star Joey Essex who quickly became the bookies’ favourite to win but divided fans over whether it was right for a celebrity to take part.
He got the boot right before the finale, after former islanders were invited back to vote out one of the remaining couples.
Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen back here.
#Mimii #Josh #split #winning #series