Love Island couple Gemma Owen and Luca Bish have announced on social media that they have made the decision to split up.
19-year-old international dressage rider, fashion business owner, and influencer Gemma Owen – who is the eldest of four children to former Manchester United and England star Michael Owen – famously met 23-year-old former fishmonger Luca Bish on the most-recent series of the hit ITV2 reality show Love Island.
The pair were not initially ‘coupled up’ when the show first started, but hit it off after the first week or so and remained together for the majority of the eight-week series.
Gemma and Luca did not become an official couple until the show had ended.
Taking to Instagram Stories to announce their break-up last night, Gemma – who is now a brand ambassador for Manchester-based fashion brand PrettyLittleThing – told her over 2.1 million followers that herself and Bish are “no longer in a relationship”.
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Love Island’s Gemma Owen and Luca Bish announce they have split up / Credit: Matt Frost (via ITV) & Gemma Owen (via Instagram)
“I wanted to let you know that Luca and I are no longer in a relationship,” she wrote.
“It wasn’t an easy decision but ultimately this is what is best for us both right now. Many of you have been on this journey with us from the very beginning and I want to thank you for your continued support as we start new chapters.”
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Luca also took to Instagram shortly after Gemma to share his own words, and announce the pair had “made the mutual decision to go our separate ways”.
He continued: “Switched my phone back on after taking some time out to clear my head after an emotional afternoon to thousands of messages about my breakup.
“I would like some time to process this privately, but as you all already know, sadly, Gemma and I made the mutual decision earlier today to go our separate ways. We have been on such a journey together and have made some amazing memories which I will treasure. I can’t thank everyone enough for their support for us as a couple during and after Love Island.
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“We will remain good friends and I wish nothing but the best for her.”
The couple were runners-up in the latest series of the ITV reality show / Credit: Luca Bish (via Instagram)
Going through a series of ups and downs during their time in the villa, Gemma and Luca did not make their relationship official while starring on Love Island, but notably remained faithful to each other throughout the series, and during the infamous Casa Amor – where they reunited even after being coupled up with other contestants.
After leaving the villa, Luca asked Gemma to be his girlfriend during, what can only be described as an extravagant and lavish proposal back in August.
Gemma and Luca came runners-up in the latest series of the show, and missed out on winning the £50,000 prize after coming in second to winners and ultimate fan-favourite couple, Ekin-Su Culculoglu and Davide Sanclimenti.
Featured Image – ITV
TV & Showbiz
Channel 4 is looking for Mancs who think they can survive the apocalypse for a new TV series
Lydia Mastrolonardo
Have you always wanted to see how long you’d last in an apocalypse?
Well now’s your chance, as Apocalypse is potentially coming back to Channel 4 for a second series, with producers having put out a nationwide casting call for contestants willing to take part.
The casting call simply reads: “Do you think you have what it takes to survive the end of the world?”
Described as a dystopian series designed to test the creativity, resourcefulness, and resilience of our nation, Apocalypse sees players are pushed out of their comfort zones and put to the ultimate test.
In the series, ordinary people are tasked with surviving for 28 days in an abandoned city – used previously only for the military to practice urban warfare – with no food, running water, electricity or heat.
Produced by The Garden – which is part of ITV Studios – for Channel 4, the show’s creators are now calling on Mancs and people up and down the country with the ‘courage and ingenuity’ to compete, to get in touch and apply for the potential second series.
Does your mate always bang on after watching a post-apocalyptic film that they would’ve done things differently? Or is the news at the moment freaking you out and you want to give the end of the world a bit of a practice run? Either way, sign up, test that plan you’ve built in your head, and see if you’ve really got what it takes.
Applications are now open, and all you need to do is fill in a short application form and one of the production team will get back to you if they would like to proceed. Come on, let’s prove what Mancs are made of.
Iconic Manc movie 24 Hour Party People is set to return to cinemas for its anniversary
Emily Sergeant
One of Manchester’s most iconic movies is set to return to the big screen next month.
Remastered in 4K and returning to UK cinemas to mark 24 years since its original release, Michael Winterbottom’s 2002 biographical comedy drama film, 24 Hour Party People, tells the story of Manchester‘s popular music community from 1976 to 1992 – specifically about Factory Records‘ founder Tony Wilson.
The film begins with the punk rock era of the late 1970s, before moving through the 1980s into the rave and DJ culture, and of course, the ‘Madchester‘ scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The narrative largely follows the career of Tony Wilson, played by Middleton-born actor Steve Coogan, while also covering the careers of the major Factory Records artists – especially Joy Division and New Order, as well as A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, and Happy Mondays.
If you haven’t seen 24 Hour Party People before, it’s a dramatisation based on a combination of real events, rumours, and urban legends, as the film is sure to make clear.
Coogan is joined by a cast by a mixture of big names and, at the time, rising stars like Paddy Considine, Shirley Henderson, Lennie James, John Simm, Ralf Little, Andy Serkis, Sean Harris, John Thomson, and even Peter Kay, alongside cameos from other figures connected to the Manchester music scene.
Before it returns to cinemas, the film will first open music and media festival/conference, Beyond The Music, at MediaCity in Salford on 6 October.
The screening at the festival will also be followed by a Q&A with Coogan, Winterbottom, and producer Andrew Eaton.
24 Hour Party People will then be re-released in UK cinemas from 9 October, and you can check your local cinema for screening times and book tickets online now.
Emily Sergeant -
17th November 2022 
