Maura Higgins: ‘Curtis still gives me fanny flutters’

The frank and feisty Love Islander says she's all about breaking stigmas

Maura Higgins

by Charlotte Oliver |
Published on

She strutted into the Love Island villa oozing confidence – wowing and terrifying her fellow islanders with her ballsy banter and not-very-shy moves.

So, it’s no surprise that Maura Higgins, 28, has been chosen to front Ann Summers’ new winter campaign, which is all about encouraging women to be more self-confident – or, in their words, “Be more Maura”.

Her unapologetic approach to sex and relationships won her a legion of fans. And she’s still as saucy as ever, telling us that boyfriend Curtis Pritchard, 23, still gives her the, ahem, feels.

Speaking to heat, Maura – who’s currently in training for Dancing On Ice – explains why she and her fanny are happier than ever.

CHECK OUT: The jobs of the Love Island 2019 contestants before they went on the show

Gallery

Love Island 2019: jobs before they went on the show SLIDER

Amy Hart1 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Amy Hart

Amy is the 26-year-old Islander from Sussex who has never had a boyfriend before.She worked as an air hostess and cabin crew manager for British Airways for eight years.On launch night, Amy announced on Instagram that she had left her old job to "start a new adventure."Amy has also taken part in beauty pageants and was crowned Miss United Kingdom in the Miss Beautiful International Pageant in 2017.

Anna Vakili2 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Anna Vakili

Anna Vakili, 28, is a pharmacist from London, recognised for her 'Kardashian-like' features. Anna studied hard with her education and achieved a masters before becoming a pharmacist. The Islander has a Middle Eastern background and is a popular figure on Instagram (according to Sherif).A source told The Mirror, "Anna is well known in the London clubbing scene. She loves the attention of nights out and you'll always find her in the VIP section surrounded by men".

Joe Garratt3 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Joe Garratt

Joe is a 22-year-old sandwich maker from South East London.He owns his own catering company, but used to be a semi-professional rugby player.Joe even brought his own sandwich platter to his photoshoot for the Love Island press day, made up of his signature filling, called the "Joe Special".

Michael Griffiths4 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Michael Griffiths

Michael is a straight-talking Scouser and real life hero who saves lives for a living. The 27-year-old firefighter from Liverpool entered the iconic Spanish villa on the opening night and revealed that he also has a degree in bio medical science.

Yewande Biala5 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Yewande Biala

Yewande is the 23-year-old scientist from Dublin who is in the villa to find her dream man. Yewande has specialised in finding a cure for cancer after starting her degree at the age of 16. She used to work 60 hours a week as an oncology vaccine specialist.

Sherif Lanre6 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Sherif Lanre

Sherif Lanre, 20, is from Lambeth and worked as a chef and semi-pro rugby player before entering the Love Island villa. The London lad regularly shares videos of himself on Instagram coaching a gym class.He said, "I'm upbeat and cheeky and outrageous with my own friends so hopefully that continues in the villa. I'm always on a mission to make people laugh."

Danyluk7 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Anton Danyluk

Anton claims to be the first ever Scottish man to appear on the ITV2 dating show. The 24-year-old is a proud gym owner who displayed his self-confidence in his Love Island introduction video. He confessed, "That's a medical condition that I have... a wandering eye! "I've never really been loyal in any of my relationships."

Callum Macleod8 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Callum Macleod

Before going on the show, Callum worked as an aircraft engineer in South Wales. The 28-year-old hunk shares his name with a British racing car driver and a cricketer, but strangely is related to neither of them. Callum enjoys playing rugby in his free time and appears to be a family man, regularly sharing snaps of his loved ones on social media. He also enjoys luxury holidays and nights out, with Instagram snaps showing various nightclubs and shots from Ibiza, Marbella and Dubai.

Lucie Donlan9 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Lucie Donlan

The blonde beauty from Newquay, Cornwall worked as a surfer and glamour model before entering the villa.Lucie likes the "typical surfer look" and previously dated last year's Islander Charlie Frederick.The male contestants are going to have to 'graft' hard to keep Lucie interested, as she confessed she gets bored easily and doesn't usually stay in relationships longer than six months.

Tommy Fury10 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Tommy Fury

The 20-year-old professional boxer from Manchester is most well-known for his famous brother and former boxing World Champion Tyson Fury. Tommy Fury was trained by boxing legend Ricky Hatton and made his boxing debut in December in 2018.The fighter is pretty self-confidence and described himself in his opening video as, "honest, charismatic and charming".

Amber Gill11 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Amber Gill

Amber Gill worked as a beautician in Newcastle before strutting into the Love Island villa on the first day.The 21-year-old specialised in lashes and facials, but also worked as a model for online clothing brand Fash1.UK.She also seems to be pals with former Geordie Islanders, Ellie Brown and Adam Collard.

Curtis Pritchard12 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Curtis Pritchard

Curtis Pritchard is most well-known for being the brother of Strictly Come Dancing professional, AJ.Curtis is an amazing ballroom and Latin dancer too, and has featured on Dancing with the Stars Ireland as a professional dancer. The 23-year-old dancer from Shropshire recently hit headlines in December 2018, when he and his brother AJ were assaulted in a nightclub in Cheshire. Curtis had surgery on his knee and suffered injury to his eyes and face while AJ suffered from bruising.

Molly-Mae Hague13 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Molly-Mae Hague

Molly-Mae Hague was the first bombshell to enter the villa this year.The 20-year-old from Hertfordshire claims her occupation is a social media influencerand she is really proud of how far she has come in her career. Molly-Mae believes she has done really well for herself and said, "considering the small town I come from, I've moved out, got my own flat and grown my Instagram following to over 150,000 to make it my job."

Danny Williams14 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Danny Williams

Danny Williams was the third male bombshell to arrive at the Love Island villa. The six foot two model from Hull caught they eye of another mega stature housemate, Arabella Chi.Danny is 21-years-old and has already made his mark in the modelling industry, having worked with GymShark, Moschino and Mr. Porter. The popular model has also featured on the cover of a popular magazine with Little Mix stars Jade Thirlwall and Perrie Edwards. Lucky him!

Elma Pazar15 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Elma Pazar

Elma Pazar is a beautician and was surprisingly the first Essex resident to appear on the ITV2 dating show in the 2019 series.Her claim to fame is that she has done eyelashes on some of the girls from The Only Way Is Essex.

Maura Higgins16 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Maura Higgins

Maura Higgins, 28, was the third female bombshell to enter the Love Island villa. The Irish grid girl and model is from County Longford and has worked with famous faces through her modelling work, including former One Direction star, Liam Payne. In 2017, Maura starred in Liam Payne's music video for his single Get Low.

Tom Walker17 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Tom Walker

Before entering the villa Tom was a model and has shared plenty of snaps from shoots on his Instagram page. He's even previously appeared on TV and billboards. He rates himself a "solid 8" out of 10 and says he "appreciates" he's "been blessed" in the looks department.

Jordan Hames18 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Jordan Hames

Manchester born Jordan Hames is a 24-year-old model who starred alongside David Beckham during Adidas' World Cup campaign. Talk about claim to fame, ey?

Arabella Chi19 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Arabella Chi

Arabella became the fourth female bombshell and she just happens to be a model. She's worked for ASOS and has even modelled maternity clothes.Despite her job, the 28 year old has admitted she's reluctant to date other models because arrogance is a turn off for her and according to the star "you meet a lot of them in modelling".Her claim is previously dating Charlie Frederick and she's pals with Montana Brown who has revealed her sneaky motive for the show.

Belle Hassan20 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Belle Hassan

Belle was a Casa Amor bombshell and the only lady who managed to get it on with Anton. She's 21, from Bromley and if you think she's great at doing makeup it's probably because she's a makeup artist.

Joanna Chimonides21 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Joanna Chimonides

Joanna, 22, managed to turn Michael's head in Casa Amor. She's from London and before entering the villa she was a recruitment consultant.

Jourdan Riane22 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Jourdan Riane

Danny was unlucky in love - both Yewande and Arabella were booted from the villa - but he quickly got over it when 24 year old Jourdan arrived. Before going on the ITV show, Jourdan was a model, actress and influencer.

Lavena Back23 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Lavena Back

Lavena didn't last long in the Love Island villa - bless her - but on the plus side she has 50k followers and is a business developer, so she can always go back to doing that...

Maria Wild24 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Maria Wild

Another Casa Amor bombshell that we barely saw was Maria Wild. The 22 year old is from Cheltenham and if reality TV doesn't work out for her she can go back to VIP hosting.

Nabila Badda25 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Nabila Badda

Before Nabila, 29, entered the Love Island villa during the Casa Amor stage she was a hostess in London.

Dan Rose26 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Dan Rose

Dan barely got any screen time, can you actually remember seeing him in Casa Amor? Us neither. Oh well, the 21 year old from Essex gained a few thousand followers and can continue being a bathroom salesman.

Dennon Lewis27 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Dennon Lewis

Dennon from Watford almost managed to steal Maura's heart in Casa Amor but it didn't work out. Luckily, the 22 year old is a professional footballer so we reckon he flew straight back to his regular job after being dumped from the villa.

George Rains28 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

George Rains

Ahh George. He barely said anything during his time in the villa but he did spill the team when Closer Online caught up with him... The 22 year old is from Essex and if he's had enough of reality TV then he's got his job as a builder to go back to.

Marvin Brooks29 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Marvin Brooks

Marvin, 29, tried to luck with Maura but it wasn't meant to be. The personal trainer and ex royal navy officer from Bournemouth then tried to crack on with Amber Gill but she wasn't feeling it.

Ovie Soko30 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Ovie Soko

Ovie. He rivals Maura when it comes to the best Love Island 2019 contestant. The 28 year old from London was a professional basketball player before entering the villa and we doubt he'll completely give up his career for reality TV.

Stevie Bradley31 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Stevie Bradley

Stevie is a 21 year old student from Isle of Man. The Casa Amor bombshell snogged Lucie but things didn't work out in the end.

Harley Brash32 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Harley Brash

Harley, 20, from Newcastle managed to turn bombshell Chris' head. The estate agent was booted from the villa days after entering it but she walked out with Chris on her arm, so not a complete loss.

Harley Brash33 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Harley Brash

Harley, 20, from Newcastle managed to turn bombshell Chris' head. The estate agent was booted from the villa days after entering it but she walked out with Chris on her arm, so not a complete loss.

Greg O'Shea34 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Greg O'Shea

Greg is the Jamie Jewitt of Love Island 2019. The 24 year old professional rubgy player (err, hello hun) is from Ireland. Obvs. His Irish accent is everything.

India Reynolds35 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

India Reynolds

India won Ovie over straight away, maybe being the same age - 28 - had something to do with it? Or maybe the fact that the star from Reading is a model.

Chris Taylor36 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Chris Taylor

Chris is perfect for reality TV; he's hilarious, unique and we can all relate to him - tbh. The 28 year old is from Leicester and is a business development manager. After entering the villa he revealed he had been creating a website alongside his friend: "The idea of it is a social support network for new and upcoming dog owners".

Francesca Allen37 of 37
CREDIT: ITV

Francesca Allen

Essex bombshell Francesca is 23 and she's a clothing store manager and co-owns her own Boutique. You go girl!

Tell us about the Be More Maura campaign…

"It’s all about encouraging women to be confident and stand up for themselves the way that I do."

What do we have to do to be more Maura?

"Stand up for yourself, be yourself and don’t let anyone bring you down. I wasn’t always confident, but once I loved myself, the confidence came."

Some people are shocked by how open you are about sex…

"I’m not afraid to talk about sex, but maybe it’s because I could talk about anything when I was growing up. I never had to filter what I said. There’s no stigma when men talk about sex, so why should it be a stigma for women?"

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How are things going with Curtis?

"Really well. Some people have said we’re taking it slow, but we’re going at a normal pace for a relationship."

What’s a typical date night for you guys?

"It’ depends what mood we are in. Some nights, we might chill out in front of the TV, other nights we might go out for a nice dinner."

What does he think of the Ann Summers campaign?

"He loves it!"

Is he still giving you fanny flutters?

"He is, 100 per cent."

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How’s the Dancing On Ice training going?

"It’s very tough, but I’m progressing. I’ve had plenty of falls. I’m very competitive, so I really want to do well."

It’s almost time for Love Island’s winter series – are you worried about them taking your crown?

"Honey, ain’t nobody going to take my crown, I tell ya!"

Maura fronts Ann Summers’ Winter 19 Campaign “Be More Maura”. Available in stores and online at Annsummers.com.

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