The finale of FBoy Island Australia aired on Monday, with the three winning couples excited to take their relationship off the island and into the real world.
But sadly, one of the winning couples has already split.
The BINGE dating show revolved around three women trying to find love among a sea of 24 men – half of which were Nice Guys, other half FBoys.
Leading women Molly O’Halloran, 26, Sophie Blackley, 26, and Ziara Rae, 21, dated their way through the men, with Molly and Ziara finding two Nice Guys among the mix – Nick and Izaya, respectively – and Sophie falling for FBoy Joshy.
All three were loved-up and cashed-up – each couple split $50,000 between them – and the next chapter awaited.
However, for Sophie and Joshy, it was over before it even began, as we discovered when we recently chatted to all three couples about life after FBoy Island.
Sophie & Joshy
Sophie had a hard decision at the finale – pick Nice Guy Justin or FBoy Joshy. Her connection with Joshy was just too strong and after sensing he had reformed, she chose him.
But his status as an FBoy had nothing to do with their break-up – they just realised they were not each other’s ever after.
“To be fair on, on our end, I think jumping into something after such a short time [is hard], especially as we live interstate,” the Melbourne-based DJ tells us of Joshy, a 26 year-old carpenter from NSW.
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“I know Joshy is so business-focused and that’s what attracted me to him as well. He’s very dedicated and so am I. And you don’t wanna ruin the friendship, I don’t think, especially from such a short amount of time. I cherished that much more than jumping into something.”
Adds Joshy: “That’s kind of the conversation we had after the show anyway, and we both respected each other in that way, anyway. We’re still really good friends – we still chat.”
Joshy says they didn’t feel pressure to stay together until the final episode aired because there was no reason to force something that wasn’t there.
“We didn’t really wanna try to force anything. I guess we didn’t really wanna feel that pressure from the show to be together,” he says. “We’d rather just respect each other, be friends and just go from there.”
And there have been no regrets, as they found friendship and a deep bond with each other.
“I didn’t go on the show for it to change my life,” Sophie says. “I went on the show to have an awesome time and, honestly, meet people because as an adult it’s so hard to meet people and bond over life experiences. So I’m just happy that I’ve got everyone in my life now. So nothing really changes.”
Ziara & Izaya
While commiserations were in order for Sophie and Joshy, it was congratulations to Ziara and her chosen one, Izaya. The loved-up pair are happy the finale has aired as now they don’t have to hide their relationship.
“It’s really exciting. I think was pretty tricky for a while coming out from the island and not being able to be like, ‘This is my boyfriend.’ Like, it’s not normal,” she tells us. “We haven’t been to a nice restaurant. We haven’t gone on holiday. We haven’t done anything like that yet, so it’s very exciting to be able to do that. I feel like we’re like starting.”
The Melbourne model felt an instant connection to Izaya “from the moment” she walked into the villa.
“I feel like I couldn’t even see anyone else – it was him straight away and my family and friends that know me and could tell throughout the entire series it would be him just by the way that I talk about him and I act around him,” she says of the 22 year-old events logistics manager from Queensland.
“I definitely knew from the very beginning – it was just how I was gonna play it.”
But play the game she had to and soon found herself also drawn to former professional basketballer Cory – an American now based in NSW.
Izaya says that is was difficult watching Ziara form relationships with other contestants, but he knew it was all part of the game.
“I’ve never been in an environment like that where I’m fighting for the one girl that everyone wants,” he recalls. “I would kind of lay and chill and try and look away from all that, but I was getting jealous, you know? And even if it didn’t show onscreen and in the edits, it did hurt. But I knew that I had a better connection than all of them and I felt like she wouldn’t give them that energy back.”
Ziara says that if she didn’t find love on the show, she would have been just fine because she found lifelong friendships with Molly and Sophie.
“I definitely didn’t go in with the intention of finding love,” Ziara says. “I honestly just went in because I knew it was gonna be a piss-take and I loved the element of having the three girls. As soon as I met the girls and we bonded, I was like, ‘I don’t give a s**t if I leave here with anyone or not. I’ve made such great connections with all of the crew and the girls and I think that’s what drew me to it. I thought I would like people, but I didn’t think that I would have a real relationship.”
Molly & Nick
Was there ever any doubt that Molly would pick Nick, aka her “Cuddle Bear”, at the end? Granted, she eliminated him in the first week, but she brought him back to the competition after realising her mistake.
“From my perspective, I was really scared. I knew I had feelings for Nick, but actually admitting that to myself, let alone admitting that to Nick, was really difficult for me,” she says. “So I was still kind of exploring the other option of Vernon there. But to be fair, I’m very certain I’ve made the right call and I haven’t been happier.”
Molly says she didn’t see anything long-term with Vernon and that’s why Nick was the one for her.
“Vernon’s a lot of fun and a real party boy – that was great and very entertaining. But in terms of a future partner, someone who I actually see myself with, Nick’s got a lot more going for him.”
It was quite the journey for Molly, who before going on the show dumped her fiancé for cheating on her with an escort. She was then blamed for her ex’s infidelity by FBoy Caleb, who made the vulgar comment that she mustn’t have a “good p***y” because her man cheated. Caleb later doubled down on those comments in a wild interview with news.com.au.
Nick only heard of Caleb’s comments in the show’s double-episode finale – and he was livid.
“I was really upset. I ended up approaching him after and talking to him about it and pretty much ask, like, are you gonna like, apologise for what you f***ing said?” Nick recalls.
“He just kept coming up with the reason why he said it. He was adamant that was the Bible, like that was gospel.”
But Molly is choosing to move on from her past and focus on her future with Nick. A proposal and engagement is not on the horizon just yet for her, but never say never.
“Eventually I’d love my happy ending and the fairytale ending with the walk down the aisle,” she admits. “I think I’m in no rush to get there. You know, planning one wedding was hard enough – I’m not ready to plan a second. So yeah, eventually in the future, but there’s definitely, no immediate plans to do so.”
For now, Nick wants her to move in with him at his home in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire, or as he calls it, “God’s country”.
“I’ve been keeping my eye out for jobs up in Sydney to potentially look at moving down the line,” admits the Melbourne-based occupational therapist.
“But we’re doing long distance for the moment and then we’ll see what happens. But hopefully I’d love to be a little bit closer.”