Love Island’s Shaughna Phillips reveals she’s had so many footballers slide into her DMs

Shaughna Phillips has joked she has had so many footballers slide into her Instagram DMs she could make a five-a-side football team. 

The reality star, who rose to fame on last year’s winter Love Island, talked to Bobby Norris and Stephen Leng in Thursday’s Access All Areas show on FUBAR Radio.

Shaughna, 26, who is currently single, admitted she ‘may start venturing into her message requests’ after being surprised by the level of interest from players. 

Shaughna told the pair: ‘I was on a photoshoot the other day and when I was shooting, my make-up artist said, “let me go through your message requests”. I was like, “ah okay, just don’t tell me anything you see in there”.’

The  reality star explained why she didn’t want to know the details of her DMs: ‘I do not go in my message requests because that is a dark and dangerous place and I avoid. It’s like Lord of the Rings middle earth, like you don’t go in there. If I accidentally click on it I’m like “aaaahh get away!”. 

Despite being hesitant, she was both shocked and pleased to discover some surprising messages: ‘There was apparently a few footballers in there. So much so that I may even have a five a side.’

She even admitted that as a result, she ‘may start venturing into the message requests.’

Unfortunately for her footballer fans and other celebrities, they might not have much luck with the beauty as she admitted: ‘I get so starstruck with anyone that I’ve watched on telly that I could never imagine dating a celebrity.’

Shaughna recently joined dating app Happn to get herself talking to more people, but has found the experience difficult at times.

She told the pair: ‘I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but all anyone talks about is lockdown and corona and you’re sick of hearing it! And when you start talking to someone new, you’re like, ‘how’ve you found lockdown’? You can’t help it. So it’s been strange.’

When asked if she’d been on any dates from the app, she revealed: ‘No, that’s one thing I’m not too comfortable with just yet.’

Hopes for a relationship to end off the year, Shaughna did confess her adoration for her Celebs Go Virtual Dating co-star, Pete Wicks.

She said: ‘I love him. He is so funny and so naughty. He would make the Pope swear. He is so naughty!’

Shaughna will be returning to TV screens next month when she takes part in The Real Full Monty, to raise awareness of cancer. 

Speaking of the show, she said: ‘Taking part in something that’s very close to my heart… I lost my dad to cancer and it’ll be his anniversary in December, so December will be such a strange month for me. I’ll be sad but I’ll also be so proud that I’m stripping on national telly.’

Preparations are already underway and Shaughna can’t wait for the show to air: ‘I just can’t wait for people to see. I feel like they’ve only really seen me in like dating and what not. But to see me in a show, which is something that I’m very passionate about, talking about something that’s so raw.

‘And being around these people, like Coleen Nolan. Oh my god. I have to physically control myself from breaking into I’m In The Mood For Dancing every time I see her… All of these people that I’m so used to seeing on Instagram and seeing on telly, and I’m now sitting round the campfire with them. That is definitely going to be the cherry on the cake for me and for 2020.’

Shaughna rounded up by saying: ‘Pray for me. What could go wrong? To be fair, after Love Island, anything’s got to be easier!’