We love being the centre of attention
Newlyweds Alex and Olivia chat domestic life and drunken wedding antics with Katie Holloway
We cannot get over how comfortable Alex and Olivia are with their bodies, happily walking around at our shoot in various stages of nudity. Alex, 27, doesn’t need telling twice when we suggest whipping off his boxers under his apron.
But, then again, no wonder – they’re bloody gorgeous, the kind of fine human specimens who go down a storm on a show like Love Island. The couple came second on the 2016 series, but have become the first contestants to actually tie the knot – celebrating their wedding just a couple of weeks ago in Essex among friends, family and an assortment of showbiz pals.
As expected, when we speak to them after their wedding, they’re absolutely ecstatic. Olivia, 24, tells us she changed her
‘I do love to receive a nice card – I’m like an old nan’ Olivia
social media to say Mrs Bowen as soon as she could, but will save all the passport and credit card admin for after their honeymoon. Mr and Mrs Bowen travelled around Sri Lanka for a week, and then took chillaxing to the extreme with a week in the Maldives. For anyone that’s seen the many, many social media posts, you’ll know for sure that these two are the real deal…
Congratulations, Mr and Mrs Bowen! How was the wedding?
Alex: I can’t even describe the day. I just wish I could re-live it again and again. Olivia: It was just incredible. We keep saying it felt like a movie – it didn’t feel real. It was perfect, we had fireworks and a singer. A: I arrived in a helicopter – Olivia got it for me as a surprise. I felt better than James Bond. Yeah, Alex had a helicopter!
O: Amazing! You told us before that you would be doing your own private vows before the ceremony. Was that emotional?
A: Yeah, it was very emotional. I got Liv’s bridesmaids to video her getting her wedding gift and reading the vows, and she cried.
O: We both prepared our vows the night before. I put mine in a little envelope and left it on his bedside table, and then he gave his to one of my bridesmaids to bring with her, so we both read them and had a little cry in the morning. So many tears – I’ve never cried so much in all my life. Alex, what was the gift that you got for Olivia? A: A bracelet. O: It’s a diamond tennis bracelet. A: Yes, of course, it’s a diamond tennis bracelet. O: [Laughs.] You didn’t know that did you, Alex?
Olivia – how did you feel when you first put on your dress?
O: I was really calm for the majority of the morning – I think my mum took away most of my stress, because she was so nervous. But then I put on my dress and they told me that my dad was coming, and I think at that moment, I was like, “Oh my God!” My mouth was dry, I could hardly talk. The dress was amazing, though. When we saw each other we burst into tears, didn’t we?
A: The lads [groomsmen] saw Olivia before me and then my mate started crying, and my best man started crying. I was like, “Oh my God, I’m going to cry!”
O: Everyone cried. There wasn’t a dry eye. My dress was quite hard to walk in, I won’t lie. By the end of the night I had my Balenciaga trainers on. I couldn’t be in heels any more.
Olivia – you’re hosting a new show called Second Chance
Dresses, where you find brides wedding dresses that have been used before. Did you get any inspo?
It’s been amazing to meet brides and hear their stories, and then actually finding a good lot of them their ideal wedding dress. And it is so much cheaper, because obviously, wedding dresses are ridiculously expensive and then they’re just kept in a wardrobe. No one gets to wear it again and it seems a shame.
Will you be donating your dress for the next series?
O: I would think about it. I don’t know how I’d part with it, because I am such a hoarder. I can’t even part with my normal clothes, let alone my wedding dress. But I probably would. Who got the most drunk at the reception?
A: Liv was really drunk! Literally within one second – one sip of wine, which we had with our food. I looked at her eyes and they were just all over the place.
O: I don’t know what happened. I think, because I was so nervous and I’d hardly had any water, I’d hardly eaten anything, and just suddenly got this glass of wine and just downed it. [Laughs.]
A: I was showing her off to everyone – like this is what I’ve got to live with for the rest of my life.
O: You’re lucky, hun.
Were there any surprises?
O: Our family and friends put “Just Married” signs and cans on the back of our car – we didn’t know they were doing that. A: But we had to drop my best friend off back at my house, so he was in the back of the car as well.
O: Yeah, it was like Olivia and Alex, just married… and Ty.
Third wheeling, much? Was the reception wild?
O: Everyone was just so drunk, weren’t they? A: Yeah, everyone was just drinking and drinking. And then it just got out of hand and was crazy. O: But it was so fun. We had, like, fireworks, a hog roast, a barbecue and we had Rebecca Ferguson [from the 2010 series of The
X Factor] sing at the wedding, as well. She sang our first dance song, which was so beautiful.
What was the song? That’s so cute. Some people get really self-conscious with their first dance – did you enjoy it?
A: We love to be the centre of attention, so it was great!
O: We were in the middle of a circle of candles and lanterns and everyone was outside around us, watching. That’s where it felt like a movie – it was like, “This
doesn’t feel real right now”. Did you get any lovely gifts? O:
We actually didn’t ask for any gifts. All our gifts went to three charities – Mind, [homeless charity] Centrepoint and Mayhew Animal Centre – so all our presents were donations. We got lots of cards. I do love to receive a nice card. I’m like an old nan.
Now that you’re married, and about to get your second puppy [a French Bulldog called Winnie to join big bro Reggie], do you think you’re ready for kids?
O: I think that’s why we wanted a puppy. I feel like we’re not ready for kids yet. We’re both big kids ourselves, and we’ve got lots to do in our careers.
A: We want to travel and do other stuff. We’re not going to plan it, but when it happens, it happens.
Who is the domestic god or goddess at home?
A: Since Liv’s been doing Second Chance Dresses, I’ve been in the house with Reggie on my own, so I’ve been being more domestic.
O: He knows how to do the washing now.
A: I had to video Liv doing it the first time, so I’ve always got it for reference.
What annoys you about each other?
A: Liv leaves milk on the windowsill all the time. In fact, there’s some in the bedroom right now. O: Alex forgets everything.
Everything! I’ll have to tell him at least four times what time we’re getting picked up. It’s a nightmare. I have his diary on my phone.
Alex, what kind of things do you do to treat Liv?
A: Olivia likes to do extravagant things, but I like to do little cute things. I can’t cook at all and once, when she got back in from a shoot, I put two candles on the table and got Dairylea Lunchables.
O: And he had a bottle of Champagne. I cried.
What’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever done?
A: Probably the proposal. I rented a rooftop in New York behind where the World Trade Centre was, and it was very private – no one was there. I dropped to one knee and was like, “Yo, let’s do this.”
O: [Laughs.] He didn’t do that!
A: I did it in a way that was a bit nicer than that.
O: It’s still a secret where it was. I wanted to keep the proposal private – just us. So no one’s ever seen a picture of the actual place where we got engaged, which is cute.
As the first Love Island couple to get married, do you feel like you’ve proven everyone wrong who said you wouldn’t last?
A: I never looked at it like we were a couple from Love Island. Everyone looks at it like it’s not going to last, but we never thought of it like that. We’re just enjoying our lives, enjoying every day.
O: It is an anomaly. I don’t blame people for not thinking it’s real, because in reality TV, you do get couples who are faking it. You get a lot of break-ups. But somehow, somewhere along the line, we were meant to meet and apparently it was on