Love Island star visit s TRNC
“BEING a Turkish Cypriot has made me who I am.” So said UK reality TV star Kem Cetinay, speaking of his links to the island and his efforts to promote the TRNC “back home”.
The 22-year-old from Essex, best known for winning last year’s Love Island TV show, was in Girne for a week-long break this week, staying at the five-star Lord’s Palace Hotel with his brother, İzzet, and cousin Berkan.
Interrupting his holiday to speak to Cyprus Today, he spoke of his pride in his Turkish Cypriot roots which had brought him to North Cyprus with his family every year of his life. Usually that has meant staying with his grandmother in Alsancak, but this time he had decided to stay in a hotel, commenting: “Lord’s Palace is by far the best hotel I have been to, and I’ve been to a lot of great hotels.”
Reflecting on government intentions to try to lure overseas Turkish Cypriots back to the TRNC, he said he would certainly consider buying property and living on the island when he was older, as he had “a lot to thank for being a Turkish Cypriot”.
“It would be harder now to think of moving here due to work but every time we come here with family, I love it,” he said.
He added that he was trying to use his new-found celebrity status to promote North Cyprus through campaigns and video content. He called it “disappointing” that people did know about the North as they do about South Cyprus, meaning “so much beauty is not seen”.
Mr Çetinay said it had been a “big year” since he won Love Island in July 2017. Since then, the former hairdresser has had his his own celebrity hairstyling show, Kem Cuts, appeared in Dancing on Ice and released a hit single, Little Bit Leave It, with best friend Chris Hughes, with whom he formed a well-known “bromance” while on Love Island.
His ambition now is to become a TV presenter, and he revealed happily that his latest pilot show, You vs Chris & Kem, with Mr Hughes, had been signed up for a series.
“I’ve adapted quickly to TV,” he said, adding: “I feel I was made for it!”
At the same time, he has also started working on mental health campaigns in collaboration with Childline, opening up about his own battles with anxiety.
Talking about his lifechanging triumph on ITV2’s Love Island — in which 12 young singles looking for love live in a villa in Majorca for six weeks, the winner receiving a cash prize of £50,000 — Mr Çetinay said he had since split from his partner in the house, Amber Davies.
He said his toughest challenge during the show had been to be away from his family, commenting: “We’ve grown up being smothered by our parents and it was a struggle to be away from them, but whatever I did while on Love Island was to make them proud and I hope I always do.”
Describing himself as “oldfashioned”, which he puts down to his Turkish Cypriot heritage and close family ties, he said it had been hard to see his parents “struggle” with public blacklash in the wake of his TV success.
“It’s been a whirlwind experience since Love Island as I didn’t know what to expect afterwards and was so invested in what I was doing.
“Some might not have agreed with my actions but I was being myself and I always try to be. I have been raised with morals and values in line with Turkish Cypriot culture, which I will never forget.”