After two failed attempts at finding love in the Love Island villa, things are finally looking up for Liberty Poole as she went public with her new boyfriend – music producer, model and barber, Joshua Raybould – last week.
Fans went wild when Liberty soft launched Josh in a romantic TikTok video, however reports soon claimed that the reality star’s friends had warned her that he was “using her for fame”.
“Liberty's pals are worried she's heading for more heartbreak,” a source revealed.
They told The Sun, “Her new man has been on reality shows in the past and clearly likes the spotlight.”
But Liberty has now seemingly hit back at accusations Josh is only in it for the fame while opening up about their relationship during a podcast appearance.
Revealing that they’ve been friends for years, Liberty said, “I've known Josh since I was, like, 19. So, even before I went on the show.
Speaking on the Secure the Insecure podcast, she added, “I literally looked back the other day and he has always been in my Instagram likes and everything since before Love Island and he's always kind of dropped a hint or tried to take me out. I kept pieing him off and was like no, no, no!"
Things turned romantic between Liberty and Josh following her stint on All Stars earlier this year and she’s already dropped the L-bomb.
“It just feels nice and natural and I've always liked the idea of love but I don't think I've actually ever been in love or really knew what that was until I met Josh,” Liberty explained.
Lib went public with her new fella last week when she posted a video from their romantic getaway to Dubai. Referencing her less than successful stints on Love Island, she captioned the post, “Finally getting that summer of love ♥️.”
Despite sharing her new relationship with her 668,000 followers, Liberty did her best to keep her boyfriend’s identity under wraps and didn’t show his face – although glimpses of his long hair, beard and hand tattoos could be seen in the video. However, eagle-eyed fans quickly worked out that it was Josh after some serious sleuthing.
Liberty's new relationship comes just weeks after she was linked to fellow All Stars Islander Adam Maxted when they were spotted leaving a night out together following his split from Arabella Chi.
Adam revealed he and Liberty were planning to go out on a proper date and Arabella even exclusively told heat she’d given them the green light after Liberty checked in with her. However, fast forward to the present day and the Brummie babe is very much loved up with Josh.
WATCH Love Island Mitch, Hannah and Liberty | Under The Duvet FULL PODCAST EP 2
Nathan Katnoria is heat and Closer online’s senior digital writer. He became obsessed with Love Island when Malin Andersson came back to confront Terry Walsh in series two and hasn’t looked back since. When he’s not interviewing former Islanders, Nathan is scrolling through their Instagram feeds for relationship updates and piping hot tea.