Ekin-Su's strong Lancashire links as she is named favourite to win Love Island All Stars

Turkish born actress turned reality Ekin-Su won the eighth series of Love Island back in 2022 and this week she shocked islanders on the second series of Love Island All Stars as she entered as a bombell, stealing Curtis Pritchard from Kaz Crossley just last night.

Only two epsidoes of Love AIl Stars have aired but the 30-year-old is already favourite to win the show so here’s hoping she will do it a second time for Lancashire!

Although currently based in Essex, Ekin-Su’s media career began in Preston, where she lived for many years when she was studying at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).

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The former Celebrity Big Brother star studied a BA degree in acting at UCLan before graduating in 2015, and during her time at university, she even featured in an online reality show which followed the lives of UCLan students.

The Love Island All Stars hopeful was using the name Susie at the time, although Ekin-Su is her birth name, and episodes of ‘Lancashore’ can be seen here.

During her time living in Preston, Ekin-Su also worked as a shot girl at Ships and Giggles.

In the picture below, Ekin (far right) can be seen posing with former The Only Way is Essex star Mark Wright as helping out with celebrity apprerances as a big part of her job, according to her former boss who also shared what she was like when she worked there from 2012 to 2014.

Bar owner Andy Macdonald said Ekin-Su was known as Susie Hayzel to pals back then, and although suprised at the name change, says it was “a comical but smart move.”

Andy said: "For weeks, I kept getting these messages from people saying that a girl called Ekin-Su [used to work] for me.

"It was getting to the point where I was getting pissed of by all these messages about her, and I didn't know who this Ekin-Su was.

"One time it was on TV so I just thought 'right that's it' and had a look, I hadn't seen any posts because I don't follow the show, and there she was.

"I just laughed and went 'that's Susie bloody Hayzel'...I couldn't believe it.

"I have never known her other that Susie Hayzel, and I'm still friends with Susie Hayzel on Facebook."

Andy also believed the Love Island star was half Irish, and had no idea that she was Turkish after she entered the Miss Asia Pacific World pageant as Miss Ireland.

He commented: "I asked her how she won Miss Ireland as it's another country.

"She was like 'what do you mean it's another country? Isn't it part of England?' and I was like oh my god Susie, oh no."

Ekin-Su was always one of Andy's 'go to girls' and often worked with celebrities, including Mark Wright.

Andy said: "She was flirty but she was never creepy with it - she was always pleasant, always happy, always smiling.

"She always made celebrities feel comfortable and she would always look after them and take photos with them.

"She was class, I don't have a bad word to say about her."

Her former boss didn't watch the last Love Island final, but did say he always knew she would be successful.

Andy added: "She was always ambitious and never held back with what she did, she always said she would make something of herself.

"She always had that attitude and that personality.

"She would say the most silliest things that you couldn't image, but she was extremely smart at the same time."