Meet the Lancashire hopefuls Shakira Khan & Sophie Lee appearing on Love Island this year

22-year-old Shakira Khan from Burnley and 29-year-old Sophie Lee from Darwen were two of 12 original Islanders that entered the iconic Love Island villa last night.

In the first coupling, Sophie, a motivational speaker and author, partnered up with 30-year-old Harry Cooksley, a gold trader and semi-professional footballer.

Shakira meanwhile, who works in marketing as well as children’s entertainment as a Disney Princess, partnered up with 23-year-old Ben, a private hire taxi driver from Gloucester.

Things have already gotten rocky for one of our Lancashire lasses though, as the show’s very first American bombshell entered at the end of the episode and she was able to steal one of the boys straight away.

Las Vegas pool cabana server Toni Laites picked Ben as her beau, meaning Shakira is now the only singleton in the villa and risks being dumped if she does not find a new connection in time for the next recoupling.

Even more unfortunately for Shakira, she is not able to take Ben back from Toni, 24, as the new couple are immune.

Before heading into the villa, Shakira was asked by ITV which type of Islander she would like to couple up with.

Shakira replied: “Someone who is tall, charming, witty, with big arms, a good smile and just really funny.”

Asked the same question, former Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School pupil Sophie, who appeared on ITV's The X Factor in 2017 and now lives in Manchester, said: “Someone who is fun, spontaneous, who has a lot of jokes and who is attentive. At the moment I’m only finding ones draped in red flags and ‘do not cross’ signs.”

As her other pre-show question, Shakira was then asked if her love life was a business, would it be booming or would she be bankrupt.

Shakira answered: “Booming… but they’re all frogs. It’s a busy love life but I’ve not found ‘the husband’. I’m looking for ‘the one’. I’m looking for the ring.”

Sophie, whose parents ran a chinese takeaway in Darwen, meanwhile was asked what she would be CEO of if she could.

The Manchester based star replied: “I’m the CEO of empowerment. I want women to feel beautiful and validated in themselves and feel their best self.”

During the show, Sophie also opened up about a personal tragedy she suffered in her early twenty’s.

When discussing her love life with new beau Harry, she revealed: “I've only had one boyfriend. When I was 22 I was in a fire accident. It made me the woman that I am. It made me learn so much about life and interactions with people and how to be better.”

The incident reportedly happened when Sophie was performig a fire breathing routine and an air-conditioning unit blasted a burst of air towards her causing a fireball to engulf her face and chest.

Delving into the impact that the accident had on her, Sophie added: “I believe to date people, you also need to be in a good place in yourself. That's why in my early 20s, I think I wasn't ready to date because I didn't feel good in myself. I had a lot of self work to do, I had a lot of building my own confidence.”

Love Island will continue tomorrow (June 10) on ITV2 at 9pm.

Expect new episodes on weeknights and Sundays with Unseen Bits scheduled for Saturday evenings.