KEM CETINAY
FORMER LOVE ISLAND STAR KEM CETINAY OPENS UP TO ok! ABOUT HIS SUCCESSFUL TV CAREER SINCE WINNING THE REALITY SHOW
Kem Cetinay is charming, chatty and cheeky on our TV screens – and it’s no different when OK! catches up with him for a chat. Despite the lockdown, the 24-year-old is a busy man at the moment. As well as his showbiz reporting duties on This Morning, he’s also releasing his new clothing collection with Primark and is in the middle of launching his new Essex restaurant, Array, which will open later this year.
When it comes to his personal life, Kem’s happily loved-up with girlfriend Lexi Hyzler. While Kem’s relationship with his exgirlfriend Amber Davies was thrust into the spotlight when they won Love Island back in 2017, Kem insists he’s keeping his love life private this time around.
Here, Kem opens up about working with Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, his mental health and being Piers Morgan’s number one fan…
How have you found working on This Morning?
I think learning how to present was really hard. Eamonn Holmes told me not to overthink it and just make it my own. For so long I was trying to copy and be like someone else, but that’s impossible because everyone has got their own style. So when I started doing that, I felt like viewers warmed to me a lot more because I was being me. Phil and Holly have been really supportive as they know how daunting it is. I always had it in my head that I was going to go back and be a barber. This was never originally my plan!
You’ve been dating law student Lexi Hyzler since last year. Are you keeping your relationship private?
Yeah, I just think it’s better. No matter what job I had, I wouldn’t get my relationship involved. I like to keep it separate. I personally think it gets confusing, but some people do and it works for them – but I don’t do well with pressure.
You’ve spoken openly about your mental health. How has your anxiety been during lockdown?
It’s been up and down. I haven’t been on top of the world the whole time. At the beginning I didn’t feel comfortable with things and it was making me anxious. But by talking to people and realising that everyone else was feeling the same, it has made me feel at ease more and I have learnt how to control how I’m feeling. Exercise has played a big part in keeping me feeling positive and when I feel down I try and think that tomorrow is bound to be better. I’ve spent more time with my mum, my dad and my brother than I ever have and it’s brought us even closer. It’s made me realise that I need to prioritise spending time with them when life gets back to normal again.
Do you think social media affects your mental health?
I’m not on social media as much as I used to be. I found it was more negative to me at times. I’ve stopped using Twitter; I haven’t tweeted in like a year. I only go on Twitter to look at Piers Morgan’s tweets. I could read you the last year of his tweets from the top of my head. We’ve got a love/ hate relationship. He used to hate me, but I always loved him and now he loves me, so we love each other!
You’ve just launched your second collection with Primark. Tell us about it...
When we started designing it, I had a bit of a thing where I woke up and said to my mum that I don’t feel like any of my clothes suit me any more. I wanted to start dressing smart and like a man. I think you can really see the difference in the range. I obviously love both, but you can see how it’s developed over a year. You can tell it’s me and I’m proud of everything in it.
Did you have a lot of input in the design aspect of things?
Yeah. I got nervous actually because they gave me a lot of input. I don’t know if my input is right sometimes, I just say what I love. My mum [Figen] is a fashion designer so she helps me a lot with fashion tips. As I’ve got older, I dress how I want to dress, but she helps style me for work stuff and she’s very supportive.
THE PRIMARK X KEM COLLECTION IS AVAILABLE IN STORE NOW. SEE PRIMARK.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION
‘my mum helps style me for work’