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EXCLUSIVE Ekin-Su's secret boyfriend: MAFS UK's Georges Berthonneau says HE was dating reality favourite when she entered Love Island: All Stars - and believed she loved him until painful 'betrayal' with Curtis Pritchard By SARAH PACKER, CHIEF SHOWBIZ REPORTER Published: 00:54 BST, 4 April 2025 | Updated: 00:59 BST, 4 April 2025 e-mail View comments Love Island star Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu was in a secret relationship with Married At First Sight UK 's Georges Berthonneau during her time on the show's All Stars series, MailOnline can reveal. According to Georges, he and Ekin, 30, were in love, but she insisted on signing up to the ITV2 show to further her career. They agreed she would go no further than 'kissing' another Islander during her time on the dating series, of which she was the star signing.
But Georges, 32, who confirms the couple's 10-month romance for the first time, claims Ekin betrayed him on national TV when she became Curtis Pritchard 's girlfriend, leaving him devastated. In an exclusive interview, Georges told MailOnline he and Ekin had planned a future together, called each other pet names, holidayed in France during the summer and spent Boxing Day exchanging gifts, just 18 days before she entered the South African villa. The personal trainer says he lived a 'nightmare' for the five weeks Ekin was on the dating show as she passionately kissed Curtis, 29, and performed a seductive routine for him wearing sexy red lingerie during the programme's Heart Rate Challenge.
But after Ekin shunned Georges once All Stars was over, only reaching out to him a week after the final, he finally ended their romance, saying: 'I can't be with someone who has another boyfriend...
' Love Island star Ekin-Su was in a secret relationship with Married At First Sight UK's Georges Berthonneau while she appeared on the show's All Stars series, MailOnline can reveal (Ekin pictured with Georges in July) According to Georges, Ekin agreed she was only allowed to 'kiss' another Islander during her time on the ITV2 series, of which she was the star signing Georges, who confirms for the first time the couple's 10-month romance, claims Ekin betrayed him on national TV when she became Curtis Pritchard's girlfriend, leaving him devastated (Ekin pictured with Curtis in February) Georges said: 'We were boyfriend and girlfriend from April last year. We were with each other. We spent Boxing Day together.
'She spent time with my family, she came to family events, she met my nephews, sister-in-law, uncles, everyone. I met her mum a couple of times and her brother. 'We said we loved each other after six weeks of dating.
.. I fell in love with the girl.
She used to call me Bear and I called her Olive because of her olive skin and that's one of her last messages to me, 'I love you, my Bear.' 'It was a super, super intense and intimate relationship..
. We had a lot of intimacy, we were very close, and physically and emotionally we showed each other such love, but she threw everything we had away for her TV romance with Curtis Pritchard.' Ekin returned to Love Island after first winning the show with ex-boyfriend Davide Sanclimenti in 2022.
She told her 4.3million fanbase in January: 'I know I said I was done with Love Island, but here I am, fully invested again. The drama, the chaos, the questionable decisions, I just can't stay away.
' But Georges, who first connected with Ekin after she sent him a flirty direct message on Instagram, has claimed she only appeared on the show to boost her career, which he felt obliged to accept. He has even accused the former Celebrity Big Brother contestant of 'gaslighting' after she allegedly told him not to date any other women during her appearance on Love Island: All Stars, where contestants romance each other on a daily basis. Georges, who first connected with Ekin after she sent him a flirty direct message on Instagram, has claimed she only appeared on Love Island: All Stars to further her career (Ekin pictured in June) The former MAFS contestant has spoken for the first time about his secret relationship with Ekin, who he dated from last April until January, when she returned to ITV's Love Island Georges told MailOnline he 'begged' Ekin not to go on All Stars but she insisted, allegedly saying her career was more important (pictured in October) The couple celebrated the festive season together wearing matching Christmas pyjamas, posing for selfies in December - a month before Ekin dated in front of the nation Ekin and Curtis finished Love Island: All Stars in third place and were beaten to the £50,000 cash prize by Gabby Allen and Casey O'Gorman (pictured in March) He said: 'I got played.
She gaslit me. I said to her before she went into the villa, 'you do realise no one else would accept you going on the show and she replied, 'and that's exactly why I won't be with someone who wouldn't let me do things for my career.' 'I feel so used.
The devil on her shoulder is always money, money, money, brand deals, she just wants to be the most known person and that's all she cares about. 'I begged her not to go on All Stars and her friends were telling her not to because she had me at home who she cares about and loves but she said she needed to do it for her career. 'She said her career was more important even though she also wants to have a family and children.
She threw it all away with me. 'Despite the fact she was going on Love Island, she told me not to get with any other girls while she was away, which I told her wouldn't happen because I loved her.' Georges says the couple eventually agreed to remain together during Ekin's time on All Stars after finding a potential breakup too painful.
According to Georges, they outlined some rules for Ekin to follow out of respect for their relationship, including not to go further than a kiss with any of her co-stars. But the former E4 contestant was left distraught after watching Ekin's behaviour on television, admitting he no longer knew whether she was acting for the TV cameras or had forgotten about him completely. He said: 'Before she flew to South Africa, we spent three days in floods of tears with each other.
It was such an emotionally difficult time. I was broken, absolutely broken. 'We were going to split up but we both decided not to and that we were going to navigate things once she got back.
She told me she was going on All Stars in October, but she didn't sign the contract until December. We were actually at an Airbnb when ITV phoned her about doing the show. 'The rule for All Stars was no more than kissing from a cheating point of view.
She was going to go in and do what she had to do but when she was back, we would navigate everything that we needed to. 'But then everything happened with Curtis..
. It's a fact she cheated on me with him, she was on national TV and said yes to being another man's girlfriend.' Ekin entered Love Island: All Stars villa as the show's first bombshell arrival and romanced 2019 contestant Curtis, who she eventually started a new relationship with She performed a sexy routine wearing red lingerie in the show's Heart Rate Challenge where she went above and beyond to raise the heart rates of the male Islanders Ekin crawled along the villa floor in homage to her first stint in the villa where she sneakily kissed another Islander on the balcony Georges claims Ekin 'cheated' on him by agreeing to be in a relationship with Curtis given they were still committed to each other However, a source close to Ekin says she was 'upfront' with Georges about their relationship ending before she became a contestant on Love Island: All Stars and it was always her intention to find someone new on the show.
A friend close to the star said: 'Ekin's relationship with Georges was always non-exclusive, which can be vouched for by multiple ITV producers, friends, and family. 'When Ekin entered the villa she was single and hopeful at finding a new relationship. 'From when she and Georges started casually seeing each other in April, she was honest and outward about the fact she was single.
'Ekin was publicly active on the dating app Raya, which Georges knew about, and was seeing other people during this time.' The ordeal of watching the woman he loved date on national TV took its toll, with Georges saying the show's popularity meant he couldn't escape his nightmare. He signed up to therapy sessions in an attempt to cope with the trauma and have an outlet for the pain he was suffering.
Love Island: All Stars, presented by TV host Maya Jama , kicked off on January 13 and lasted five weeks. Former Turkish soap actress Ekin entered as the show's first bombshell arrival, strutting into the villa wearing a white leotard with a beaded skirt. Ekin and Curtis, who first appeared on the 2019 series with ex-girlfriend Maura Higgins, finished in third place while Gabby Allen and Casey O'Gorman were crowned winners of the £50,000 prize.
Georges said: 'I only watched three or four episodes, but it was everywhere, all over social media. It was horrible, every single second of it..
. I felt like I was living the same nightmare every day. 'Even in my head, I thought, right I'm done with her, but I still needed to have that conversation with her, I had no closure.
'I didn't know if she was putting on an act for TV because of what she told me. She kept me sweet on the outside while she roamed around and did what she wanted in the villa. 'I have started therapy because of this.
I started in week three of the show because I was so f***ing broken, every week crying. 'She isolated me from my friends because she didn't want them knowing about our relationship. I stopped talking to them about it, but I needed therapy to vent and talk and grow.
' Ekin returned to Love Island after first winning the show with ex-boyfriend Davide Sanclimenti in 2022 Love Island: All Stars, presented by TV host Maya Jama, kicked off on January 13 and lasted five weeks Georges found fame when he appeared on Married At First Sight UK in 2023, which saw him marry ex-wife Peggy Lawrence after they met for the first time at the alter After waiting five long weeks waiting to reconnect with Ekin, Georges had hoped she would be in contact as soon as the All Stars series finished. But his heartache intensified when Ekin failed to message once the show had wrapped and he claims he's still yet to receive an apology from the star, who he says has not taken accountability for her actions. He said: 'She had the opportunity to message me 24 hours after the show ended but she disrespected me even more.
'Once the show was over, she didn't message me. I messaged her the entire time she was on Love Island..
. I needed to for my own mental health. 'But I first received a message from her a week later on February 24.
.. I messaged her saying, 'you officially have two boyfriends.
' 'When she finally got back to me, she said she had been 'overwhelmed.' 'We ended up having a two-hour phone call where I told her I couldn't be with someone who has another boyfriend..
.' 'She has not apologised to me. She has not taken accountability, and we are seven weeks post show.
' A representative for Ekin-Su told MailOnline: 'Ekin-Su was never in an exclusive relationship with Georges. 'He knew before she went on Love Island: All Stars that she was entering the show as a single person and therefore their relationship would not continue under those circumstances. 'Ekin was upfront with Georges about her intention to pursue a new relationship on Love Island.
'Georges chose to remain involved with Ekin despite this, telling her that he would 'rather be the fool who waits than the one who gives up.' 'However, from October 2024 to January 2025, Ekin made it clear on multiple occasions, as confirmed by her close friends and team, that their relationship was set to end prior to going on the show.' Curtis Pritchard Share or comment on this article: Ekin-Su's secret boyfriend: MAFS UK's Georges Berthonneau says HE was dating reality favourite when she entered Love Island: All Stars - and believed she loved him until painful 'betrayal' with Curtis Pritchard e-mail Add comment Comments 0 Share what you think No comments have so far been submitted.
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