"I've not seen my dad in about 10 weeks!"
Love Island star Shakira Khan has explained why her parents have not yet met her new partner Harry Cooksley.
The 22-year-old coupled up with Harry during the latest series of the ITV2 dating show.
The pair’s romance developed after weeks of uncertainty, as they were caught in a love triangle with Helena Ford. The drama intensified further when Harry’s ex-girlfriend, Emma Munro, entered the villa.
While Toni Laites and Cach Mercer eventually claimed the £50,000 prize, Shakira and Harry left with a relationship that has continued to grow outside the show.
On Loose Women, Shakira opened up about her relationship with Harry and how they are handling life after Love Island.
When asked about building trust, Shakira said: “It was important for us to build back at our own pace, everyone’s been together from the start.
“Everyone’s like, ‘Are you boyfriend and girlfriend, are you exclusive?'”
Denise Welch pressed further, asking if the couple had met each other’s families.
Shakira confessed: “Not yet. Well, my mum’s been cruising round the Mediterranean, and I’ve not even been home to see my dad.
“I’ve not seen my dad in about 10 weeks!”
Harry, who was sitting in the audience, was brought into the conversation.
Reflecting on his behaviour in the villa, he said: “I like to think I’m living up to what she wants now.
“I just want to be that person, I am, but I wanted to make the most of my time in the villa and not sit there for eight weeks.”
Shakira light-heartedly added: “I’ve always told him that he’s not a bad person, he just does silly things!”
During the series, viewers watched Harry take a back seat as tensions flared between Helena and Shakira.
Days after the final, Harry admitted on Lorraine that he could have handled the situation better.
He said:
“I think I definitely handled things in the wrong way with Helena and Shakira.”
“But at the end of the day, Helena and I are now moving forward as friends. I haven’t actually spoken to her since I’ve been out but we had a couple of conversations before she left the villa and I’m delighted it’s amicable.”
On how she coped with the drama, Shakira said: “Honestly, it was heartbreaking and having to watch it pan out every day was so tough.
“I think in the outside world, you can have a bit of distance, you can speak to each other. It was something I’d never experienced before.”
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