EXCLUSIVE: Megan Barton-Hanson says she and Wes Nelson are ‘still very much in love’

The pair will remain friends despite their split

Megan Barton-Hanson, Wes Nelson and Vanessa Bauer

by Carl Smith |
Updated on

Unless you've been living under a rock (or somewhere with very questionable Wi-Fi), you can't have missed the news that Love Island's Megan Barton-Hanson and Wes Nelson have split.

We know, we know. We've been through a few boxes of Kleenex, too.

While everyone has their theories as to what went wrong - from those issues with Wes's Dancing on Ice partner Vanessa Bauer to reports of a 'fame-hungry' Wes - we wanted to get the truth straight from Megan's mouth. Why did they call it quits?

Megan Barton-Hanson
©heat

Speaking about the aftermath of her split announcement, Megan told heat: "It's been very intense, the last three weeks. A lot has happened. I just want time to heal, time to be by myself; learn to love myself again. I don't need a man.

So she'll still be supporting Wes on Dancing on Ice, right? "Of course, yeah," she assured us. "Going through an experience like that with someone, you're never going to forget them. Whenever I look back on memories of Love Island, he's always going to be part of that.

"We are still very much in love as friends, but that's all it will ever be. I'll always support him, no matter what he does. He's a lovely boy inside and out.

"It just didn't work out because of age."

This all comes after Megan recently told Grazia she feels 'liberated' following the split. She said: "I love Wes as a person but we're in very different stages of our lives and our priorities are different. I'm 24 and by the time I'm 30 I want to be engaged. Wes is only 20. He's living his best life.

"I feel liberated by the break-up, but I'll always love Wes. He's a beautiful person inside and out. Whoever ends up with him is very lucky."

BELOW: Which Love Island couples are still together (and which are NOT 💔)

Gallery

love island couples heat slider

Love Island couples1 of 25
CREDIT: ITV

Hannah Elizabeth and Jonathan Clark (2015): SPLIT

Remember when they, like, got engaged on the show? That one didn't quite last...

Love Island couples2 of 25
CREDIT: ITV

Katie Salmon and Adam Maxwell (2016): SPLIT

Adam claimed he was '100 percent single' shortly after leaving the villa and, um, that was that. #Kadam; gone but never forgotten.

Love Island couples3 of 25
CREDIT: ITV

Gabby Allen and Marcel Somerville (2017): SPLIT

Gabby dumped Marcel after he was spotted cheating as they holidayed TOGETHER. Blimey.

Love Island couples4 of 25
CREDIT: ITV

Scott Thomas and Kady McDermott (2016): SPLIT

Scott and Kady managed a year before splitting in 2017.

Love Island couples5 of 25
CREDIT: ITV

Nathan Massey and Cara de da Hoyde (2016): STILL TOGETHER

They've got their little Love Island baby and everything.

Love Island couples6 of 25
CREDIT: ITV

Jamie Jewitt and Camilla Thurlow (2017): STILL TOGETHER

An absolute success story of Love Island 2017, Jamie and Camilla and Jamie are still the CUTEST of couples.

Love Island couples7 of 25
CREDIT: ITV

Sam Gowland and Georgia Harrison (2017): SPLIT

Sam seems to be doing alright for himself on Geordie Shore, so we don't think he's too gutted.

Love Island couples8 of 25
CREDIT: ITV

Olivia Attwood and Chris Hughes (2017): SPLIT

The couple were plagued with cheating rumours throughout their relationship (who can forget that whole Chris Hughes and Katie Price debacle?). Since their ITVBe show Crackin' On ended, Olivia's confirmed she's back with ex-boyfriend Bradley Dack.

Love Island couples9 of 25
CREDIT: ITV

Malin Andersson and Terry Walsh (2016): SPLIT

He did date fellow Love Island-er Emma-Jane Woodhams eight months in actual real life before calling it a day. AH WELL.

Love Island couples10 of 25
CREDIT: ITV

Rykard Jenkins and Rachel Fenton (2016): SPLIT

At least they lasted 18 months. Not bad going...

Love Island couples11 of 25
CREDIT: ITV

Jessica Hayes and Max Morley (2015): SPLIT

Still fancy Max in a huge way, not gonna lie.

Love Island couples12 of 25

Alex Bowen and Olivia Buckland (2016): MARRIED

Alex and Olivia are married and literally as strong as ever. We like to live vicariously through them, to be honest.

Love Island couples13 of 25
CREDIT: ITV

Jordan Ring and Zoe Brown (2015): SPLIT

Absolutely DID NOT work IRL. Neeext.

Love Island couples14 of 25
CREDIT: ITV

Luis Morrison and Cally Jane Beech (2015): SPLIT

They had the first ever Love Island baby, but things later took a sour turn, with Cally accusing Luis of 'cheating' on her whilst she was pregnant with their daughter. (Oh dear).

Love Island couples15 of 25
CREDIT: ITV

Tyla Carr and Jonny Mitchell (2017): SPLIT

Oh it was never gonna last, was it?

Love Island couples16 of 25
CREDIT: ITV

Kem Cetinay and Amber Davies (2017): SPLIT

The Love Island 2017 winners split in December 2017; five months after the finale.

Love Island couples17 of 25
CREDIT: ITV

Montana Brown and Alex Beattie (2017): SPLIT

These two split just weeks after returning to the UK. Sad times.

Love Island couples18 of 25
CREDIT: ITV

Dom Lever and Jess Shears (2017): MARRIE

Jess and Dom are so together, in fact, they got 'married' on Good Morning Britain on Valentine's Day 2017. They then got, y'know, properly married.

Love Island couples19 of 25
CREDIT: Shutterstock

Sam Bird and Georgia Steel: SPLIT

You know how this one went. Sam accused Georgia of cheating on him with her ex, which she denied. It's safe to say they didn't split on the best of terms.

Love Island couples20 of 25
CREDIT: Shutterstock

Zara McDermott and Adam Collard: SPLIT

Zara and Adam have called it quits. WAH.

Love Island couples21 of 25
CREDIT: Shutterstock

Megan Barton-Hanson and Wes Nelson: SPLIT

Megan and Wes did move in together, but announced their split in January 2019 following rumours Wes was getting close to Dancing on Ice partner Vanessa Bauer. Uh oh.

Love Island couples22 of 25
CREDIT: Shutterstock

Josh Denzel and Kaz Crossley: SPLIT

Josh and Kaz announced their split in February 2019, with Kaz saying: "Sometimes things don't go the way you planned, but you have to be grateful for the journey. Thank you for everything especially showing me how to love myself again."

Love Island couples23 of 25
CREDIT: Shutterstock

Samira Mighty and Frankie Foster: SPLIT

Frankie reportedly cheated on Samira and that was that. Done. Over. thank u, next.

Love Island couples24 of 25
CREDIT: Shutterstock

Laura Anderson and Paul Knops: SPLIT

There's no bad blood between Laura and Paul, but they split months after making it to the final of the show.

Love Island couples25 of 25
CREDIT: Shutterstock

Jack Fincham and Dani Dyer: SPLIT

Although they briefly split in 2018, in April 2019, Jack Fincham announced he was no longer in a relationship with Dani, just hours before her book launch. (OUCH).

Megan is supporting women to take more STI tests and smears.

Megan is supporting the Worship your Woo Woo campaign, for more information visit woowoo.fun.

If you’re a sucker for the Spice Girls and love a bit of One Direction, you need heat Radio in your life.

We’re online at heatradio.com. You can still get us on the free app on your Android, iPhone or tablet. Tune in on Freeview channel 716 on the telly or get us on your smart speaker by asking it to "play heat radio."

Download our heat Radio app on Android.

Download our heat Radio app on iOS.

Just so you know, we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this website - read why you should trust us