NEED TO KNOW
- Love Island Australia is currently airing its eigth season, with new episodes available to stream on 9Now.
- Love Island Australia premiered in 2018, with Grant Crapp and Tayla Damir crowned the inaugural winners, taking home $50,000 in prize money.
- Several original Islanders have since found love, including Tayla, who married AFL star Nathan Broad, and Eden Dally, who is in a relationship with MAFS alum Cyrell Paule
- Several years on, the Season 1 Islanders have forged varying careers in media, modelling, beauty and business, with some returning to reality television.
The 2026 season of Love Island Australia is well underway, and if you’re anything like me, it’s got you feeling a little nostalgic for the OG Season 1 Islanders. Where are they now? What have they been up to? Is Grant still with the “secret girlfriend” he had while he was making out with Tayla in Spain? (Spoiler, he sure is!)
It was 2018 when the Australian iteration of Love Island first sauntered onto our screens, with Sophie Monk stepping into the hosting role, a position she’s held for eight consecutive seasons.
Ten single Aussies, plus a handful of Bombshells (or intruders, as they’re known outside the Love Island universe), descended on a luxury villa in Mallorca in the hope of finding everlasting love, $50,000, and, of course, kickstarting their social media careers.
In the end, it was Grant Crapp and Tayla Damir who were crowned the winners of season one, splitting the $50,000 prize. Eden Dally and Erin Barnett followed closely behind as runners-up.
But seven years on from filming, where are Australia’s very first Islanders now?
Skip ahead to:
Tayla Broad (Née Damir)
Tayla Broad (née Damir) was one half of the winning couple in Love Island Australia‘s inaugural season, appearing on our screens as a baby-faced 21-year-old. But while her on-screen romance with Grant Crapp may have ended in a rather confusing fashion, (thanks to his secret girlfriend back home), it certainly didn’t dampen Tayla’s spirits.
In case you need a refresher, during filming, rumours began circulating that Grant had a live-in girlfriend back in Australia. Despite initially denying the claims to Tayla, the rumours were eventually confirmed to be true. Speaking to the Nine Network at the time, Tayla recalled the series of events: “He denied it when we were in the house and I just had this gut feeling to follow through with it. Once I was able to access media and read the articles, I told Grant he needed to own up. I finally got the answer that was the truth: he was on there to promote himself and he did have a girlfriend who was running his business while he was inside the Villa.”
Thankfully, it’s been onwards and upwards for Tayla ever since. She’s established a successful career as a social media influencer, amassing 426K followers and partnering with brands including Bangn Body and Michael Arthur Diamonds. She’s also launched her own makeup collection in collaboration with MCoBeauty, MCoBeauty x Tayla Damir, published a cookbook titled ‘Tayla Made Meals’ and co-hosts the motherhood-focused podcast Baby Talks.
Alongside her flourishing career, Tayla has found her happily ever after, marrying former Richmond Tigers AFL player Nathan Broad in October 2022. The couple have since welcomed their first child, daughter Samara, now two-years-old, with Tayla announcing in July that they are expecting their second child.
Instagram: @tayla.broad
Age entering the villa: 21
Grant Crapp
Grant’s time on Love Island was marred by the rumours surrounding his so-called “secret girlfriend”, Lucy Cartwright. Despite winning the reality show alongside Tayla and leaving the villa in a relationship with her, it wasn’t long before fans realised Grant actually did have an “on and off” girlfriend back home in Canberra.
Unsurprisingly, Grant and Tayla’s romance came to an end, with Grant rekindling his relationship with Lucy just weeks later. In fact, eagle-eyed fans had noticed Grant commenting on Lucy’s Instagram photos as far back as 2017.
And it seems the pair were always destined to be together. Since his stint on the show, Grant and Lucy have welcomed three children together: daughter Charli, five, Levi, three, and Oliver, one.
Grant also proposed to Lucy earlier this year, enlisting their children to help him pop the question. As for his reality TV career, he made a return to the small screen in 2022, joining The Challenge Australia. The series brought together a slew of former reality TV contestants who were paired up to take on a series of unpredictable, physically demanding and gruelling challenges.
Instagram: @grant_crapp
Age entering the villa: 22
Erin Russell (Née Barnett)
Erin Russell (née Barnett) was a runner up on Love Island, alongside her on-screen partner Eden Dally. Although they were one of the strongest couples of the season, the pair split just two months after the finale aired.
Erin has used her platform to talk candidly about endometriosis, which she was diagnosed with at just 14-years-old, alongside battling adenomyosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
In 2022, she underwent a full hysterectomy in a bid to put an end to years of suffering. Before making the decision to have surgery, Erin’s health struggles were impacting almost every facet of her life, enduring 17 surgeries, the first at just 15 years old, and trying countless medications in an effort to manage her pain.
Away from her health journey, Erin has also opened up about her love life, including the 19-year age gap between herself and her husband, Mick Russell, who has three children from a previous relationship. Erin is a proud stepmother to his children and has addressed the curiosity surrounding their age difference. “[It’s] a 19 year age gap. We’ve been together for five years,” she said in an Instagram Q&A.
“I don’t know what to say, other than our relationship just works. He already has kids, I can’t have kids. So it wasn’t like I was taking away the chance for him to be a father, and he kind of opened up to me experiencing motherhood (even though I’m not a mum, but ya know what I mean!).”
The couple tied the knot in October 2025, and Erin has since continued to focus on her career, running her own cosmetic clinic, Benjamin Button Cosmetics. She also appeared on season 6 of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! Australia in 2020 following her stint on Love Island.
Instagram: @erin.alysha
Age entering the villa: 23
Eden Dally
Eden Dally, 34, and Cyrell Paule, 37, are a match made in reality TV heaven. Cyrell, affectionately known as “Cyclone Cyrell”, first rose to fame on season six of Married At First Sight and has since become a familiar face on Australian reality television. Her TV appearances include MAFS Grand Reunion (2021), The Challenge: Australia, The Amazing Race Australia (alongside Eden) and, most recently, I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! Australia (2026).
The couple have been together since 2019, and wasted little time taking their relationship to the next level. Just four months after going public with their romance, they announced they were expecting their first child together.
They’ve weathered their fair share of ups and downs over the years, complete with cryptic Instagram posts that alluded to breakups, but as of November 2026, the pair are still going strong.
Eden also continued his reality TV career post Love Island, making an appearance on SAS Australia in 2020, where he became the fifth contestant to leave the competition.
Instagram: @dallyeden
Age entering the villa: 25
Justin Lacko
Justin was coupled up with Millie Fuller during his time on Love Island, however the pair quickly (and amicably) friend zoned each other. He is still smouldering his way through life as a model, and is currently signed with Chadwick Models. In 2019, Now To Love reported that Justin and his then-girlfriend Anita Barone were expecting their first child together.
In a caption accompanying the announcement post, which has since been deleted, Justin reportedly wrote: “Welcome to the world Leo Jace Barone-Lacko! Born 11 May 2020 how I will treasure you forever. My love for you is unconditional.”
Justin also went on to appear on season five of the Australian version of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2019.
While the model isn’t particularly active on Instagram these days, a scroll through his account suggests he’s certainly made the most of his time away from the cameras, with plenty of globe-trotting along the way.
Instagram: @justinlacko
Age entering the villa: 27
Millie Fuller
After her Day 1 match, Justin, was dumped from the island just 18 days into the experiment, Millie found herself single in the villa before eventually coupling up with Mark O’Dare.
However, the pair’s romance wasn’t meant to last, with the two splitting in March 2019. Since then, Millie has kept her romantic life off of social media, choosing instead to focus on her business, Happy Paws Sydney, which offers dog walking, minding and training services. She’s also continued to build her online presence, regularly sharing snippets of her life with her 223K Instagram followers.
Instagram: @millie1993
Age entering the villa: 24
Josh Moss
Josh Moss finished in third place on Love Island alongside partner Amelia Marni, with the pair going on to enjoy one of the season’s longest-lasting romances and even moving in together.
After almost four years together, however, the couple eventually called it quits. Since leaving the villa, Josh has built a successful career in media and content creation. He’s currently co-hosting The No Hard Feelings podcast alongside fellow Love Island alum Cassidy McGill, and in 2022 and 2023, he fronted I’ve Got A Text with Josh and Flex! alongside author and commentator Flex Mami (Lillian Ahenkan). The vodcast served as a companion series and spin-off to Love Island Australia.
Following his split from Amelia, Moss was rumoured to be casually dating Anastasia Iliopoulos (a contestant on The Bachelor Australia in 2023/24), who later confirmed that their relationship had ended (amicably).
Instagram: @joshmoss
Age entering the villa: 25
Amelia Marni
Since her split from Josh, Amelia has continued her successful social media career, with her work spanning red carpet appearances, event hosting, modelling campaigns and fashion and beauty content creation across her platforms.
According to her Instagram, Amelia is now based in London, and she frequently travels across Europe. She is also in a long-term relationship with Kaan Morton, a London-based consultant who appears to share her passion for fitness.
Instagram: @ameliamarni
Age entering the villa: 22
Cassidy McGill
Cassidy initially coupled up with Grant Crapp on Love Island, only for him to leave her for fellow Islander Tayla. What followed was one of the season’s most memorable love triangles, as tensions between the two women escalated while they vied for Grant’s affections. In a particularly awkward twist, Cassidy later chose to recouple with Grant, although the two women eventually bonded over his antics after leaving the villa.
Cassidy went on to couple up with bombshell Elias Chigros and later Josh Moss, with whom she now co-hosts the No Hard Feelings podcast. In 2025, Cassidy confirmed her split from boyfriend Bernie Mor, a DJ-turned-TikToker whom she had reportedly dated for around a year. Since then, she has largely kept her romantic life out of the spotlight.
Instagram: @cattcity
Age entering the villa: 23
