Love Island fans have been heaping praise on “selfless” winners Kai and Sanam after the couple revealed what they plan to spend part of their £50,000 prize money on.
In case you missed it, nearly two months after the smash-hit ITV reality competition show returned to our screens for its ninth series and it’s second Winter edition, and a whole new lineup of hopeful singletons made the trip to South Africa in the look for love, the winners of Love Island 2023 were announced live on Monday night.
Host Maya Jama revealed that fan-favourite couple Kai Fagan and Sanam Harrinanan had clinched the coveted win.
The 24-year-old PE and Science teacher from Manchester, and the 24-year-old Social Worker from Bedford, beat runners-up Ron Hall and Lana Jenkins to take home the £50,000 prize money.
Tom Clare and Samie Elishi came in third, while Tanya Manhenga and Shaq Muhammad took fourth.
The couple certainly captured the hearts of Love Island fans after their romance first blossomed in Casa Amor when Sanam entered as a ‘bombshell’, and survived all other challenges thrown at it throughout the series.
ITV revealed yesterday that Kai and Sanam walked away with a huge 44% of the public final vote, compared to Lana and Ron’s second place of 30%.
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Kai and Sanam are the first winners in the show’s history to have coupled-up in Casa Amor.
Kai – who also played semi-professional rugby for Burnage RFC alongside his teaching career – told presenter Maya Jama that Sanam had “blown me away straight away” after her introduction on the show, while Sanam admitted that “it was always Kai”.
“I always said he was my number one and that, of course he is a very attractive guy, but apart from the looks, like I was just like… he’s an amazing guy, everything about him,” she added.
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Love Island winners Kai and Sanam to spend part of £50k prize money on ‘helping kids’ / Credit: ITV
Now, the couple have spoken out for the first time since leaving the villa to dish on how they plan to spend their £50,000 winnings.
While they said that jetting off on a couple’s holiday is definitely on the cards as soon as they get the chance to, they also explained how they plan to stay true to and honour their roots as a teacher and social worker by using part of the prize money to “help kids” – which has seen fans praise them for their “selfless” response.
In their first interview since being crowned Love Island 2023 winners, Kai and Sanam admitted that they know they have to be “sensible” with their prize money.
Kai explained: “Before I came in here, I wanted to start up a business and help kids get into physical activity. I don’t want to turn my back on teaching, working with young kids and think I will use some of that to do that.
“I am not sure yet in what capacity.”
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“That’s similar to me,” Sanam added, “I came from social work – working with children who have been adopted. I know that sometimes in my area there can be limited services, so for me I want to be able to do something to aid and support them, being an advocate for them.”
Kai added: “Both our careers were pretty similar when we came in here, and the conversations we had and the reasons why we were doing them were very similar.”
Featured Image – ITV
TV & Showbiz
Lottery Winners help debut new hometown anthem ‘Song For Leigh’ at massive stadium gig
Danny Jones
Indie pop favourites Lottery Winners smashed their first-ever solo stadium show at Leigh Sports Village at the end of May, and they also helped debut a dedicated hometown anthem for the town.
One of several current stars coming from in and around the Wigan music scene, it’s been a big few years for the Greater Manchester band, and their biggest-ever headline show on Saturday was yet more proof of just how much they’ve achieved in their career thus far.
That being said, however, this lot will never, EVER forget where they’ve been and, most importantly, where they come from.
You’ll find no better example of that than their sold-out LSV gig, which saw multiple celebrations of their local area, than one particular moment…
Posting on social media in the aftermath of the landmark live performance for the four-piece, frontman Thom Rylance wrote: “Little old Leigh, I haven’t slept a wink. I’m not sure I ever will again. I’ve never felt such a powerful punch of love hit me like that before, and I’m not even sure what to do with it all.
“Thanks isn’t enough, but let’s start there. Thank you for carrying us all this way. Thank you for making us feel special. Thank you for making all of this feel proper. Thank you to the grown-ups who trusted us with such a mammoth thing. Absolutely stupid that you let us do that, but I hope we made you proud.
“The feeling I get from looking across and seeing my best mates on the planet literally living their dream, in full HD, makes me so happy I could burst into bubbles. And thank you to Leigh. Our home. Our people. Nobody does it better. Last night was proof that ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things.”
But as mentioned, perhaps the most wholesome part of the entire event was when they aired a brand-new tune created by Spirix Collective – a group of local musicians, dancers, and all-round creatives based in the heart of Leigh. Here’s what they’ve made:
What a lovely thing for everyone tied to this place.
Produced partly in an effort as part of the historic Lancashire county village’s bid to become the UK’s next first Town of Culture, it’s a track created on behalf not just of Leigh itself but to further help shine a light on the often criminally-overlooked borough of Wigan.
As for natives themselves, they signed off the milestone by adding in the caption: “Lottery Winners are massive. KOKO [Keep on keeping on].”
It’s fair to say that after seeing some of the scenes from over the weekend, we tend to agree.
Who was there on the night and, whether you were lucky enough to be or not, what do you make of the ‘Song For Leigh’ now you’ve heard it?
Featured Images — Ianthe Warlow (supplied via Deacon Communications)
TV & Showbiz
Gracie Abrams announces multiple nights in Manchester on latest UK tour
Danny Jones
Global superstar Gracie Abrams has just announced her biggest run of live dates in Manchester ever, with the US singer-songwriter set to play multiple big shows here in 0161.
Wait until you hear how many…
That’s right, Gracie Abrams is playing not one, not two, but THREE whole nights in Manchester city centre on an extensive European tour entitled ‘The Look at my Life’, with a lengthy UK leg next year, too.
Returning to the same venue she graced (get it?) back in March 2025, the American is rejecting all notions of the ‘nepo baby’ accusations and focusing on what she does best, messing things up and not just blowing smoke, but continuing to book huge gigs across the globe.
Posting on socials, the bedroom and indie-pop artist wrote: “Honoured to be joined by Rachel Chinouriri, Holly Humberstone, Del Water Gap, Charlotte Lawrence, Grace Ives, Bella Kay, Jensen McRae and The Japanese House across North America and by Samia and Jake Minch across the UK and Europe.
Advising fans across the pond to pre-order her new album, Daughter From Hell/sign up for her mailing list before 12 noon on Monday, 1 June, if they want the best chances of securing early access, she confirmed that tickets for all three Mancs go live as early next week.
She signed off by adding, “I have missed you, and I love you so much! More to come soon.”
To be honest, it’s not been all that long since we last saw her, so we can only applaud her work ethic.
As for the record itself, her newest LP will be her third studio project and definitely looks to be toying with the narrative spouted by her detractors to some extent…
‘Daughter from Hell’ My third album is out July 17 Hit the Wall this Thursday night Whoa whoa whoa Freaking out I am so ready for it to be yours ❤️ Available to pre-order nowhttps://t.co/hR1l0UShXcpic.twitter.com/i26tu5sJcx
Coming to Manchester and just a handful of other domestic locations in spring 2027, the only place she’s playing more concerts is London.
Daughter From Hell is set for a 7 July release date, and we can’t wait to see what the 26-year-old’s latest musical chapter entails.
Here in Manchester, warm-up will come from superb support act, Samia, who we caught opening up for Maggie Rogers a few years back, and we can only vouch for the quality of her live performances as well.
Once again, general admission tickets for her three Manchester gigs on 22, 24 and 25 April at 9am local time on Friday, 5 June.
Emily Sergeant -
15th March 2023 
