‘We’ve proved everyone wrong’
Love Island’s Molly Smith talks moving in with her co-star and boyfriend Callum Jones and hitting back at body-shamers
This year has been a bit of a whirlwind for reality star Molly Smith. After finding love on the winter series of Love Island with Callum Jones, the 26-year-old was thrust into the spotlight with the former scaffolder.
Since then, things have gone from strength to strength for the couple, with the pair recently taking things to the next level by moving into their first home together in Manchester.
The lovebirds recently relived their time in the South African villa during Love Island: What Happened Next?, including the moment Molly walked in with Callum, 24, from Casa Amor and broke Shaughna Phillips’ heart. But Molly assures us things are now all smoothed out between the trio!
Here, Molly opens up about taking the next step in her relationship with Callum and why she’s had it with body-shaming trolls!
Hi Molly! You and Callum recently moved into your first home together. Are you enjoying it?
Yes.You don’t feel like you’re getting in anyone’s way when you’re trying to get into the kitchen. We just do what we want, when we want. We make our own rules now.
Where were you living before you moved into your new place?
At my mum and dad’s. We didn’t want to spend lockdown apart.
Callum turned up with his suitcase and moved in with us. I worried when he first moved in with my mum and dad about being in their space. I didn’t want them to feel put out by us, but it was absolutely fine. It actually went really well. We had movie nights with them and we started watching loads of series together. My mum and dad love him. Callum was cooking for them, so he’s already got brownie points for that. He was having little baking competitions with my dad, it was really cute. He would be amazing on MasterChef.
Who does what when it comes to chores around the house?
Callum is definitely the cook and I do a lot of the tidying.
If I ask Callum to do something, like making the bed, he will do it and when he goes out of the room, I will remake it. It’s not bad OCD and it doesn’t make me anxious, I just like everything neat. But the other day I did text Callum saying, “I can’t leave the house until everything is done.” It added another 20 minutes onto my day.
Did spending lockdown together make you stronger?
Oh, 100%. We got on so well in lockdown. I love how caring Callum is – he’s always thinking of me. Even if he’s just making food, he always makes sure he makes me some, too.
We’ll never forget the moment you both walked back into the villa from Casa Amor. What would you say to people who thought your relationship wouldn’t last?
I just think you should never judge from an outside point of view, because you don’t know what it’s like behind closed doors. We always get messages saying, “I can’t believe you‘re still together, oh my God.” Even though people doubted us, we’ve proved them wrong.
Has Callum spoken to his ex Shaughna recently?
We saw her at Thorpe Park the other week and Callum said hello. The first few days there were some issues, but it’s all right now.
You and Callum were rumoured to have split in March. What happened there?
That was so random and we still don’t even know where that came from. I had a PA and I had to leave – I think because I left Callum where we were, it was reported that I had stormed out. But nothing like that happened.
Are we going to see you guys following in the footsteps of former Islanders, like Olivia and Alex Bowen, and getting married?
Well, we’ve always said what our dream wedding would be and talked about that, but we know that it’s not any time soon. We’re both quite set that we don’t want marriage or babies at the moment. We want to go on many holidays first.
What does your dream wedding look like?
It has to be somewhere hot on the beach. We’d want it a bit low-key. Callum likes Mexico, but I’m not sure. We’d definitely invite our friends from Love Island. If Callum was to propose any time soon then I’d have to start looking at rings to make sure it was big enough [laughs]!
Do you both want kids, too?
When the time is right. I don’t know if you saw the baby challenge on Love Island, but I’m not great with kids [laughs]. My brother and
sister have new babies and I’m very much an aunt figure rather than a mother figure. I haven’t got that mothering instinct yet, so I’m thinking no kids until my mid-thirties. I love my dog too much. Fur babies will do for the minute. Callum is actually trying to make me buy more dogs.
‘We’d definitely invite our Love Island friends to our wedding’
You were recently body-shamed on Instagram for being “too skinny”. Did that upset you?
I’ve been modelling full-time so I’ve always had opinions, but it’s happened more since Love Island. It didn’t really bother me, it was more the fact that you can’t judge someone by pictures when there’s angles and lighting involved.You can look skinny in one angle and curvy in another. People don’t like it if you shame someone for being overweight, so it’s not nice to shame someone for being into fitness.
Did it affect your confidence?
Absolutely not! You can’t please everyone. I feel good in myself and I’m confident – if I want to post a picture, I will post it. With my job, especially in modelling, you have to be happy with how you look and confident in your own skin. I go to the gym and I don’t do it to lose loads of weight, it’s to be fit and healthy. That’s the main thing for me. We go five times a week because we enjoy it, but we don’t force ourselves.