Who is Love Island
Love Island UK 2026 is in full swing, and rarely does it get better than the annual introduction of Casa Amor. With the boys and girls now split into two houses, and new bombshells galore, there will undoubtedly be enough drama to fill a book... multiple books!
ITV confirmed a whole host of Casa Amor newbies, with six new girls and boys set to enter the villa tonight (Sunday 28th June). One of the bombshells is Irish influencer Charleen Murphy, who is set to be a new favourite if the comments on Love Island's official post are anything to go by.
A whole host of fellow influencers are supporting Charleen and her appearance in the show, including Harriet Blackmore, who commented, "Yes @charleenmurphy my girlyyyy 💅🏽👯♀️🧚🏻♀️✨💕💕💕💕 xxxxxxx". Well, we for one can't wait to see how Charleen shakes things up.
Charleen is 27 and her birthday is coming up soon! On August 9th, she'll be turning 28, making her a Leo. No wonder all eyes are on her. In previous years, she may have actually ended up celebrating her birthday in the villa, but we think the series will have ended before then.
I'm sure her accent will win her plenty of favours in the villa as Charleen is originally from Ireland, Dublin to be specific. Although by the looks of her Instagram (@charleenmurphy), she's never in one place for too long! Her holidays are giving Dua Lipa a run for her money.
After arriving in the second villa, Fitzy aka Sean reveals he immediately recognises bombshell Charleen. As the pair greet each other, she asks him, “Is it nice to see a familiar face?”
Later when the boys are discussing the bombshells, Aidan says, “Fitzy has crumbled already!", while Sean later says in response to Charleen's question about how everyone's couples are going: "I’m very happy with Lola but I want a test."
The pair are both Irish, obviously, but also have decent followings on social media, so likely have met at influencer events or through mutual friends before the show.
Charleen is a content creator and influencer, and having amassed over 443k followers on Instagram, we'd say she's pretty good at what she does! She'll be no stranger to the influx of followers we're sure she'll receive after being on the show.
Ahead of her appearance on tonight's episode, Charleen spoke with ITV about what she's looking to gain from the show, "Finding love is the goal, but I think drama probably comes along with the nature of Casa Amor. It's gonna happen!"
And she's already got her eye on a few of the boys, so we do believe her when she says drama is going to happen. Out of the current line up? "There's four - I'm being greedy! Kavan (Murphy), Aidan (Murphy - Kavan's brother), Lorenzo (Alessi), and Seán (Fitzgerald)". Who will make the first move? Only time will tell.
Ah, the age-old Love Island question. Looks are less important for Charleen, as her type is "a best friend as well as a partner", which are important attributes to look for in your potential new beau.
When chatting about the boys she has her eye on, Charleen thought that "they have bits of my type in each of them, but I think I'd need to see that and to actually chat to them properly. Kavan, I would say out of all of them, is my actual type on paper", so it will be interesting to see who she does end up gelling with the most.
Charleen doesn't have much of a strategy, she's just going to be herself and count on her "Irish charm".
"I'm naturally a flirty person. I've got a good heart and good energy. I think if you go in with too much of a strategy, it's like you're forcing it and not being yourself. I'm going to be myself and go with what my heart says and follow my gut. I'll talk to everyone, give everyone a chance, even people I might not necessarily have my eye on, because people could surprise you, so you never know!"
We couldn't agree more! There's only so far mind games and cunning tactics can get you. When it comes to love, truth will out.
Love Island continues at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.