Love Island’s Sanam returns to Day Job

Since winning the winter series of Love Island, Sanam Harrinanan says she wants to use her platform to do good and is returning to what she is passionate about.

Before entering the villa, the 24-year-old was a social worker in Bedford.

Sanam won the show with Kai Fagan and afterwards, she admitted that she could not return to social work, even if she wanted to.

She previously said: “I can’t go into social work again, I don’t think I’ll be able to.”

Now, Sanam has explained that her desire to work with and support children motivated her career as a post-adoption support social worker.

She said: “It was something I was really passionate about and still am passionate about it.

“Since coming off Love Island, I want to use my platform to still be able to do my job but in a different way.

“I really enjoy encouraging people, being there to support them, picking them up and giving them the tools to get across all these hurdles.

“It was such a rewarding and positive job, it was tough at times but I think there is so much support out there that people don’t necessarily know about.”

Sanam is working with You Can Adopt to encourage more people to come forward to adopt the children who wait the longest.

Data shows that nearly 2,000 children are waiting to be adopted, with 59% in a “harder to place” category.

These include older children, siblings, those from ethnic minority backgrounds and children with additional needs.

Sanam wants to raise awareness about the support available for prospective adopters at all stages of the adoption process.

Services include advice, support groups, training, workshops, family days, and specialised therapy tailored to the family’s needs.

Regional adoption agencies are working to enhance these services, with a strengthened offer set to launch in September 2023.

Sanam added: “My job actually has offered me my job back which is amazing but I would like to take this year out to use my new career in a different way, but I would like to go back.”

As the summer series of Love Island goes on, Sanam opened up on the grim reality of living in the villa.

She said: “Living with like 12, 14 other people was horrid because, like I said, there’s only two toilets and one shower in that whole villa you see up in there.

“The only thing that made me think ‘I wanna go home’ is whenever I’d go to the toilet, I see that the [seat]’s lifted up and just pee all over the floor and seat.”