Islands

WHY settle for one pretty European island, when you could head to two?

Located just 25 minutes apart, you could head to both Lanzarote and La Graciosa in Spain in one holiday.

Travel experts at Sundeals have shared that you could head to both Lanzarote and neighbouring La Graciosa without having to get another flight.

And the best part? A seven-night package costs as little as £254 per person.

From Lanzarote, it only takes 25 minutes on the ferry to reach La Graciosa, which is a volcanic island with less than 750 residents.

The ferry costs around €32 (£27.37) return per person.

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Sarah Jooste, Product Executive at Sundeals said: “Taking the ferry across to La Graciosa for the day completely changes your perspective of Lanzarote and feels like discovering a hidden island that many visitors never see.”

“For lunch, I’d recommend Casa Enriqueta on La Graciosa, where tapas start from around €6 (£5.13) per dish, while traditional rice and seafood dishes such as paella are typically around €16 (£13.69) per portion, served overlooking the harbour.”

While on the island, you can also head to Caleta de Sebo, which is the main hub of the island where you will find local shops and places serving fresh fish.

For a beach spot, visit Playa de las Conchas, which boasts golden sand and amazing views.

Thanks to the rugged landscape, another popular activity is to head off on a 4×4 Jeep Safari across volcanic land formations.

Prefer hiking? Head up Montaña Amarilla for panoramic views over the sea and coast.

Of course, Lanzarote has many amazing spots too including diving around Museo Atlántico which is Europe’s only underwater sculpture museum, with more than 300 sculptures.

You could also head to Jameos del Agua where you’ll find an underground lagoon inhabited by tiny blind albino crabs found nowhere else in the world.

There is even a restaurant hidden inside the volcanic cave too.

The restaurant serves traditional Canarian dishes but you could also book onto the Insólita Experience guided tour, which includes access to hidden areas of the caves, a tasting at Bar Galería and entry to the Casa de los Volcanes Museum from €41.20 (£35.24) per person.

Sarah also recommends: “Back on Lanzarote, Bodega Rubicón, in the La Geria region, is a brilliant place to experience the island’s unique volcanic wine culture, with tastings from around €22 (£18.82). It is one of those places where the landscape is just as memorable as the wine itself.”

Kevin Nelson, Managing Director at Sundeals said: “Our research tells us travellers are looking for smart ways to book holidays that give them exactly the experiences they want, with flexibility and a great price.

“A two-in-one holiday, where you have a central base but other destinations or countries nearby to spend a day in, are a great way to pack a lot in for a low-cost.

“Lanzarote is a brilliant example of that. Visitors can enjoy everything they expect from a Canary Island escape but also discover a real hidden gem in La Graciosa.

“For anyone looking to make the most of their holiday time, Lanzarote offers something increasingly valuable – the chance to experience several different sides of a destination without spending your trip travelling between airports.”

HER reality star romance with Joey Essex failed to flourish — but Love Island’s Jessy Potts is now smitten with the son of a controversial Real Housewife.

The villa beauty, 27, is dating Innis Jenkins, 26, whose mum multimillionaire mum Diana, 52, appeared in the Beverly Hills version of the franchise.

Jessy has shared a number of loved-up pics with Innis from their holiday in Sorrento, Italy, without sharing his name.

She also posed with a beaming smile beside Innis and Diana on the businesswoman’s Instagram account, before it was swiftly deleted overnight.

The Sun has contacted a rep for Jessy for comment.

Entrepreneur Diana, who is worth an estimated $300m, made headlines for the wrong reasons earlier this year when she was wrongly linked to a shocking story in the late actress Hayden Panettierre‘s memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning.

The troubled Nashville star, who was found unresponsive at a residence in  in South Carolina from a suspected overdose aged 36, described how a British socialite put her in a bed with a naked British singer-songwriter in his 30s when she was 18. She also discussed the incident on Jay Shetty’s hit On Purpose podcast in May.

Reading the passage on the podcast, Hayden said: “She physically put me in the bed next to this undressed man who was very famous… My hair stood on end, and I became ferocious. I was like, ‘This is not happening.’

“I had nowhere to hide. I bolted, and I hid wherever I could think of to hide on a boat. There was no jumping off and swimming away… and I realised that there was nobody who was going to be empathetic to my situation, that this was nothing new to them.”

Though Hayden didn’t name the socialite, rumours began spreading online that it was Diana, leading the Real Housewife to vehemently deny any involvement.

In a statement to TMZ, her rep said: “Diana has had to deal with false online rumors before, and sadly this is just another example of that.

“So let me be 100 per cent clear about this: It most certainly is not Diana, and anyone who claims it is her will be sued.”

Diana’s connection to Hayden goes back at least 16 years when the Sarajevo-born businesswoman released a coffee table book called Room 23 that featured provocative and intimate shots depicting Beverly Hills life and featured an array of stars including Lindsay Lohan and George Clooney.

At the time of her involvement, Hayden was 20 and riding high in superhero drama Heroes.

Hayden wrote of their friendship in her book, stating: “It was a weird friendship for sure, but as I stretched into my newfound adulthood, I had to see which relationships suited me, on my own terms. At that moment, Diana seemed like she could give me everything I needed.”

Innis grew up in LA and attended a posh private school. He is said to be an entrepreneur but keeps a low profile publicly with no posts on his own social media page.

He has made cameo appearances in the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills over the years but was very much a background figure.

His dad is Brit banker Roger Jenkins, who divorced Diana in 2011.

In the early noughties he was said to be the highest paid banker in London, coining in a reported £40m a year.

He was dragged to the Old Bailey in 2019 for a high-profile fraud case dating back to the 2008 financial crisis and his involvement in Barclays’ emergency £11bn capital raise to avoid being nationalised.

Roger was one of three men acquitted in 2020. He is now reportedly worth close to $100m.

Before dating Jessy, Innis had a relationship with Ava Dash, the daughter of Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash.

Jessy appeared in the Love Island villa in series 11 as a bombshell. She hit it off with Towie star Joey Essex, who had started the series as one of the original villa boys, turning his head away from ex-girlfriend Grace Jackson who was also in the villa.

The pair narrowly missed the series final, and their relationship was short-lived in the outside world.

Opening up on Love Island All Stars, Jessy said: “It only lasted about a couple of months afterwards. It was just, we’re definitely different people, so when you leave here and it’s like, ‘Oh, s***!’

“He’d done TV before, so he already had a lot of people who had opinions about him anyway. And it just wasn’t, it wasn’t for me.”

IT goes without saying that much of what an island holiday needs arrives by boat or plane.

The beer, the sunbeds . . . the bloke fixing the air con.

And holidaymakers end up paying the difference.

Holiday comparison site TravelSupermarket has found five island faves where a week away can cost hundreds of pounds per person more than it does on the mainland coast of the same country.

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Here, we list five island-to-mainland swaps that will save you a fortune.

MADEIRA for the ALGARVE – Save £344pp

MADEIRA is all verdant forests, cliffs and volcanic drama, and it charges for the privilege.

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What the Algarve has that competes is the same coastal theatre with sandy beaches.

The Seven Hanging Valleys Trail scrambles along golden cliffs between Praia da Marinha, regularly voted one of Europe’s best beaches.

And don’t miss the Benagil sea cave with its famous skylight.

Base yourself in Lagos for the Ponta da Piedade arches, or Albufeira for waterparks, dolphin-spotting boat trips and a full strip of restaurants.

IBIZA for COSTA BLANCA – Save £336pp

NOWHERE can match Ibiza’s superclub DC10, but the Costa Blanca gets closer than you would think.

Alicante’s old town, El Barrio, runs tapas crawls into club nights that finish at 3am, and the city has two miles of golden sand at San Juan.

Benidorm, half an hour up the road, is a 24-hour operation with cabaret, karaoke and Blue Flag beaches.

For the stunning holiday snaps, there’s the whitewashed coastal towns of Altea as well as Calpe, where the 332m Penon de Ifach rock rears out of the sea.

SKIATHOS for HALKIDIKI – Save £180pp

THE trick here is that Halkidiki barely feels like the mainland.

Sithonia’s pine-backed coves, including the turquoise waters of Kavourotrypes and the fjord-like bay at Porto Koufo, are a match for anything on the isle of Skiathos.

Kassandra has big organised beaches and hotels, with the northern resorts the easiest to reach from Thessaloniki airport.

Check out the boat trips that run along the monastery coast of Mount Athos.

MENORCA for COSTA BRAVA – Save £163pp

MENORCA is known for its calas, small sheltered coves where a scoop of sand sits between pine-topped cliffs.

The Costa Brava has them too, along the Cami de Ronda, the old smugglers’ path that links cove after cove.

Aiguablava and Sa Tuna below Begur are the postcard ones, and the clifftop walk between Calella de Palafrugell and Llafranc takes 20 minutes.

Add the medieval walls at Tossa de Mar, the Dali Theatre-Museum at Figueres and tapas in Girona, and there’s more to do on the mainland on less sunny days.

MAJORCA for COSTA DORADA – Save £153pp

MAJORCA has been a popular family hotspot for decades, with shallow bays, kids’ clubs and waterparks.

The Costa Dorada does the same job for less, and it has one thing the island can’t match — PortAventura World.

It boasts everything from the eight-loop Dragon Khan and the 100m-plus drop Hurakan Condor, to Ferrari Land and the Caribe water park.

Plus, Salou has two long sandy beaches and a lively strip, Cambrils next door is the seafood port, or check out Tarragona’s Roman amphitheatre by the sea.

Japan’s protest over Putin’s visit to the Kuril Islands is loud because its response is capped: Tokyo cannot meaningfully sanction the one Russian energy relationship — Sakhalin-2 LNG — it now depends on more than ever, after the Strait of Hormuz closure gutted its Gulf oil access and made that supply a load-bearing pillar of its energy security through at least December 2026.

On August 13th, Vladimir Putin toured a fish-processing plant on Iturup Island, the largest of the four southern Kuril Islands Japan calls its Northern Territories, with Sakhalin’s regional governor at his side. It was his first visit there in twenty-six years in power. He called the islands’ status “enshrined” as a permanent outcome of the Second World War and pointedly invoked the late Shinzo Abe, who spent years personally courting him toward a peace treaty that never materialised. Tokyo’s response was immediate: Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the visit “absolutely unacceptable,” and her Foreign Ministry says an “additional sanctions package” is under consideration. What went unmentioned is that this same government told Washington, in writing, ten months earlier that a full ban on Russian LNG would be “difficult.” That contradiction, not the visit itself, is the story.

The dispute is old: the Soviet Union seized the four islands in the war’s final days, and the missing peace treaty has been Tokyo and Moscow’s unfinished business for eighty years. What is new is the energy math surrounding it. Sakhalin-2, the LNG project sitting directly across the strait from where Putin stood, supplied Japan roughly 3.6–3.9 million tonnes last year — about 9% of its total LNG imports, and enough to make Japan the project’s largest single buyer. The US Treasury sanctions waiver permitting those imports, along with the Gazprombank clearing that finances them, was just extended to December 18th, 2026, pushed back from an original June deadline. Washington’s stated reason was blunt: global supply is “constrained amid the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz.”

BEHIND THE VISIT

That closure is the piece most coverage of the Kuril visit leaves out. Since February 28th, when the US and Israel launched their air campaign against Iran, the Strait of Hormuz has been effectively shut, with roughly 20,000 mariners and 2,000 ships stranded and Brent crude spiking to $126 a barrel at its peak. Around 90% of Japan’s crude oil and 11% of its LNG normally transit Hormuz. Tokyo has spent 2026 losing its largest energy artery to a war in the Gulf, which means Sakhalin-2 has quietly gone from “one Russian supplier among several” to one of the few pillars still standing under Japan’s winter power grid. Putin picked this year, not an arbitrary one, to make his sovereignty claim visible on the ground.

The waiver renewal is the tell. Washington and Tokyo did not merely tolerate the Sakhalin-2 exemption through the Ukraine-sanctions years — they actively rebuilt it in 2026, in the middle of the Hormuz crisis, explicitly carving out maritime transport, financial clearing, and joint-operations funding through the end of the year. Putin then chose that same window, with that same regional government’s leadership standing next to him, to plant a public flag on the neighbouring islands. He is not testing whether Japan objects. He knows it will. He is testing whether the general logic of sanctioning Russia survives contact with the specific, recently-renewed exemption that keeps Japanese lights on. Compare that to 2010, when Dmitry Medvedev made the first-ever Russian presidential visit to the same islands: Tokyo protested loudly, recalled its ambassador briefly, and moved on within weeks, because no comparable energy dependency was on the table at the time. The script is recognisable. The stakes underneath it are not.

Takaichi’s own words undercut her “absolutely unacceptable” framing before she said it. In October 2025, briefing President Trump on the LNG relationship, she told him directly that a total ban on Russian gas “would be difficult” — an unusually candid admission from a leader now weighing a fresh sanctions package over the same relationship’s home islands. A prime minister who has already told Washington, on the record, that cutting the energy tie is impractical cannot now credibly threaten it without the threat being understood, in Moscow as much as in Tokyo, as theatre. What remains available is a narrow band of symbolic measures — travel restrictions, asset freezes on individuals connected to the visit or the regional administration — that let Tokyo be seen to act without touching a single LNG cargo.

The standard objection is that Japan has options: JERA, its largest buyer, points to a 30–35 million tonne portfolio and spot-market access, and Tokyo Electric-linked utilities cite early-stage interest in the $44 billion Alaska LNG project as a long-term alternative. That is capability, not near-term relief. Japanese firms remain openly cautious about Alaska LNG’s cost and logistics, with no binding offtake timeline in sight, and the global spot market Japan would lean on is the same market already absorbing cargoes redirected from Hormuz-blocked routes — tighter, not looser, than in a normal year. Sanctioning the actual molecules, rather than a list of names, risks the electricity-price and blackout warnings Japanese officials themselves used to justify keeping the Sakhalin-2 waiver alive in the first place.

THE SCENARIOS

Base case (~55%): Japan announces a narrow, largely symbolic sanctions package — individual travel bans and targeted asset freezes tied to the Far East regional government — while explicitly leaving Sakhalin-2 supply and Gazprombank clearing untouched, repeating the 2010 script almost exactly. The December 18th waiver renewal proceeds quietly, folded into the broader Hormuz-driven energy calculus, and Moscow reads the episode as confirmation that its Pacific energy leverage over Japan is durable regardless of who occupies the Kremlin’s chair on any given August.

Downside case: domestic backlash — the same “hardened public sentiment” Takaichi herself warned the visit would produce — pushes her government into a genuine review of the Sakhalin-2 exemption as its December deadline approaches, right as Hormuz remains tight heading into winter and Asian spot LNG prices stay elevated from redirected Gulf cargoes. The result is Japan’s first real taste of sanctions-driven energy pain from the Ukraine-era regime, a burden that has so far landed almost entirely on European households rather than Japanese ones, arriving in the worst possible month of the heating season and forcing utilities into the kind of emergency rationing talk Tokyo has avoided since 2022.

Upside case: Tokyo treats the compounding shock — Hormuz plus the Kuril visit landing in the same year — as the forcing function it has lacked for three years, converting Minister Yoji Muto’s long-stated goal of “steadily reducing dependence” on Russian LNG into actual contracted volume rather than a talking point: accelerated Alaska LNG offtake commitments, expanded US Gulf Coast term deals, and a public timeline for winding down Sakhalin-2 purchases that uses the December waiver deadline as a hard exit ramp instead of an automatic renewal. Even here, the earliest realistic substitution volumes arrive on a multi-year timeline, not by next winter.

THE AFTERMATH

Putin’s flag on Iturup was never really a test of Japan’s territorial resolve — Tokyo’s position on the Northern Territories has not moved in eighty years and was never going to move now. It was a test of whether that resolve has any economic weight behind it at the one moment Japan’s alternatives are thinnest.

Watch for: what actually happens to the Sakhalin-2 waiver around December 18th, not the sanctions package announced this week. A quiet renewal, carved out exactly as before, will tell you Japan’s outrage and Japan’s energy security are now permanently on separate tracks — and that Moscow understands the gap between them better than Tokyo would like to admit.

THREE steps. That was all it took to go from my villa’s back door to the pool.

Around me, the gentle hum of cicadas and the fragrant breeze of Mediterranean flora filled the air.

It was everything I had imagined rural Greece to be, and more.

While I was on the popular island of Crete, Ella Resorts’ Rocrita sits on the quieter, eastern side where many tourists don’t venture.

For miles around, the only views are of the shimmering Aegean and a blanket of green olive groves across the rolling hills.

The all-inclusive 5* resort only opened a few months ago, so everything still had that new feel and fresh scent.

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Rooms range from deluxe to two-bedroom suites, many with swim-up pool access.

My earthy-toned villa had a spacious bedroom with customisable lighting, and a plush lounge with stylish sofas, a Nespresso machine, TV and writing desk.

The lounge also had a mini-fridge, restocked daily with complimentary soft drinks.

The bathroom had all the essentials plus a few luxuries — think high-end exfoliating loofahs and boujee body lotion.

When you aren’t in your swim-up pool, there are other pools across the resort lined with loungers looking out to the ocean.

Sprawled in a cabana by one of the main pools with a spritz, I tucked into a freshly made pistachio tiramisu from the street food hub right next to the pool — just one of many mouthwatering desserts to tempt you.

Guests can also enjoy direct beach access to a quiet stretch of coast, dotted with the comfiest beanbag loungers I’ve had the pleasure of laying on.

Families are well-served, with a Ninja Warrior-style obstacle course suspended over a pool, a creche and a kids’ club.

Couples can head to Roée Spa for a treatment, plus steam rooms and a sauna.

And when it came to dining, I was spoilt for choice with six à la carte and buffet restaurants.

These featured a wide mix of cuisines curated by Michelin-star chefs including traditional Greek dishes as well as Italian and Mexican.

At Smigo, there were cold and warm plates, freshly made bread and locally caught seafood.

It was a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach, with colourful, fragrant ingredients in every dish.

The star of the show, though, was definitely breakfast — in fact, it was the biggest I’ve ever seen.

Spread across four buffet stations, there were all the breakfast items I could think (or dream) of, including semolina pudding, fresh pastries, antipasti, fully cooked breakfast items, pancakes, yoghurt, omelettes, cakes, fresh fruit . . .  the list goes on.

Without exaggerating, I ate so much each morning I didn’t need to have lunch.

For a tipple, there were four bars, including one stocking 300 local and international wines.

There’s enough to do that you needn’t leave the resort, but staff can arrange excursions if you want to explore.

Try the historic island of Spinalonga, an hour’s drive away.

Once a Venetian fortress, the island later became a leper colony — which was one of the last in Europe, before being abandoned and left as it is, with the same sights on the island there today.

A ferry runs every half hour and costs €12 (£10.44) return.

For something slower-paced, head up into the mountains to the 15th-century Toplou Monastery, where you can taste a flight of eight organic wines including white, rose and red.

To accompany the wines you’ll get a plate of cheeses, olives, figs, breadsticks and oil, and a host talking you through how the wine is made and the history of the monastery.

Whether I’d spent the day uncovering the history of a forgotten island or tasting wine in the hills, the best part was always returning to my villa in this untouched corner of Greece, sliding into my swim-up pool with a glass of local wine in hand and floating to the familiar soundtrack of the cicadas.

Aug. 13 (UPI) — Japan issued a stern rebuke to Moscow on Thursday after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited a disputed chain of islands off Hokkaido that were occupied by Russia at the end of World War II.

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi in a post on X strongly condemned Putin’s visit to Etorofu Island — Iturup to the Russians — the third of the four southernmost Kiril Islands about 80 miles northeast of the Japanese mainland, saying it was part of Japan.

“We have received reports today that Russian President Putin has visited Etorofu Island. The Northern Four Islands, including Etorofu Island, are an inherent part of Japan’s territory — both historically and under international law — and Japan strongly protests this visit,” said Motegi.

Russia’s state-run TASS news agency said Putin visited Iturup as part of a trip to Russia’s Sakhalin region.

On the island, he met with Sakhalin region Governor Valery Limarenko, toured a fish-packing factory, visited a secondary school and spoke with residents.

Prior to visiting Iturup, Putin attended the final stage of drills of Russia’s Pacific Fleet off Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

TASS said it was his first visit to the islands which Russia calls the Kurils, and claims as part of its far eastern Sakhalin province, and Japan calls its Northern Territories.

The last senior Russian government official to visit the area was in 2021 when Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin visited Iturup.

The dispute is over the four islands at the southern end of the volcanic archipelago with Russia claiming them under the post-World War II world map that came out of the 1945 Yalta Agreement, months before the war ended, first in Europe, and then in the Pacific.

Japan’s position is that Yalta only contained a non-binding recommendation that the islands should go to Russia, that it was not a party to the agreement and that Russia’s invasion of the Kirils in 1945 was in breach of a neutrality pact signed by the two countries in 1941.

The long-running dispute means that as far as Russia and Japan are concerned, World War II hostilities technically never ended as they never formally signed a peace treaty.

PLANS for a new multi-million pound private island in the Maldives have been revealed.

The premium exotic complex could span 155 acres on the ocean, with an underwater railway and a “deep-water lagoon”.

A zero-land private island in the Maldives has been put up for sale by a Canadian brokerage, and it can be bought in its entirety for £335million.

The development has not yet been built and will only be constructed if a buyer can be found.

In computer-generated images by Private Islands Inc, The Adaptive Atoll is a 155-acre Maldivian resort that would be nestled away in a secluded setting of the Indian Ocean.

Inside, it would be made of a number of fortresses and holiday homes, all connected by an underwater rail network.

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Private Islands Inc. even offers additional mini-islands that connect on demand, allowing owners to add modular spaces such as a 30-bunk guest pavilion or a dedicated kids’ club.

To accommodate the most high-profile of clients, the layout of the island would allow for fly-in capabilities, meaning the most elite can arrive via seaplanes and private helicopters.

Private Islands Inc. boasts around 800 islands in its portfolio, usually set at around a $1million (£745,000) price point.

Some, especially in Canada, Belize, and the Americas, can cost under $500,000 (around £370,000), such as Grape Cay in Nicaragua that spans the size of two American football fields.

Mr Krolow, the chief executive and founder of Private Islands Inc., told The Telegraph:  “At the end of the day, if you want island ownership in the sense that it’s yours, you’re there and there’s no one else, it’s possible.

“And you don’t have to be super rich, but you do need to be a little crazy.

“You need to have a set of balls, and you need to have been bitten by that island bug.”

LORENZO Alessi appears to have finally learned his lesson after making sure he liked Julia Majchrzak’s latest Instagram photo.

The Love Island winner was previously called out for “embarrassing” Julia by liking other women’s posts while ignoring hers.

But he now appears to be making up for lost time after liking a glamorous new snap of the 26-year-old posing in a black lace dress.

Lorenzo also commented: “All over my feed.”

However, not all fans were convinced by his latest display of affection, with some taking to the comments to tease him.

“Seriously?” wrote one, while another added: “You’re late, so late.”

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Love Island’s Lorenzo snogs Julia after clashing over his likes for other girls

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Another cheekily tagged Lorenzo, writing: “@lorenzoxalessi, just tagging you in case you’re going to say it hasn’t popped up on your feed.”

A third said: “I understand you need time to figure it all out, and I genuinely hope you learn to love and treat her better as time goes on.”

Following their villa victory, Lorenzo was caught red-handed liking glamorous models’ pictures on social media.

In a joint interview last week, the Love Island winner defended his behaviour and confessed that he “didn’t think it would be picked up by the press”.

Speaking on Capital XTRA shortly after their “awkward” This Morning interview went viral, Julia said the whole furore was “not funny”.

She told the hosts: “Guys, this is not funny. He’s already embarrassed me online.

“He had no time to arrange a date in five days, but was sat in bed liking other girls’ Instagram pictures.”

Referring to her own posts, she added: “Did you even have time to like my photos? Guess what, guys, he’s not under my Instagram!”

Lorenzo later poked fun at the controversy by commenting “liked by Lorenzo” underneath Julia’s snaps.

LOVE Island winners Julia Majchrzak and Lorenzo Alessi have kissed and made up on a night out with their fellow villa friends.

The ITV2 dating show winners came to blows after he was clocked fawning over other female’s sexy pics on social media.

The champions were joined on a night out at London’s 100 Shoreditch.

Former Casa bombshell Julia looked stunning in an all-black dress made up of mesh and lace panelling.

With her hair slicked back, she looked every inch a TV star as she smooched her man.

Lorenzo looked slick in an open shirt with a blazer and slacks.

swiped off

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INSTA SHAM

Love Island’s Julia accuses Lorenzo of ’embarrassing her’ by liking girls’ pics

Joining them for the reunion night were ex islanders Ellie Chadwick and Finley Maddock.

Ellie looked summer ready in a short yellow outfit with a feather bottom as she held hands with her fella.

It comes after the couple were grilled about the online drama on Capital XTRA.

Julia, 26, admitted she found his online wandering eye ‘not funny’ and was ’embarrassed’ by his behaviour.

She told the hosts: “Guys, this is not funny. He’s already embarrassed me online.

“He had no time to arrange a date in five days, but was sat in bed liking other girls’ Instagram pictures.”

It comes after a clip of the couple’s appearance on This Morning went viral last week, with fans left unconvinced by their relationship.

Joining Josie Gibson and Paddy McGuinness in the studio, Lorenzo and Julia were quizzed about their future plans.

But an unimpressed Julia grilled Lorenzo over why he had failed to organise a date and had barely seen her since they won Love Island together.

Viewers also claimed Lorenzo appeared distracted by former flame Jasmine, who was sitting just inches away with Kavan.

The 2026 matchmaking show champ, who scooped his share of a £50K cash prize during the final, has finally removed his profile from Hinge.

Also at the event were Priya and Aidan – who were dumped from the villa days before the final.

The reunion saw familiar faces return including pretty-in-pink Lola Deal and Seán Fitzgerald, Mica Harris and Samraj Toor, and hand-holding singletons Charleen Murphy and Martha Rothwell.

Julia and Lorenzo beat runners-up Jasmine Muller and Kavan Murphy, and third place stars Angelista Gunda and Simba Kudyiwa.

WHEN it comes to planning your next holiday, why not look for somewhere different to everywhere else?

Europe is full of breathtaking islands, you just have to discover them…

And fortunately for you, we have done just that.

Here are some of the best ‘secret’ islands across Europe, including several with white sand beaches and crystal clear waters:

Bornholm, Denmark

Known as ‘Sunshine Island’ and the ‘Pearl of the Baltic’, Bornholm sits in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark.

The island has dramatic cliffs as well as vibrant green forests and white sand beaches.

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For things to do on the island, you can head to Opalsoen, where there is a zipline over a lake.

And if you want to see more of the island’s dramatic landscape, try Pissebaekken which is one of Denmark‘s highest natural waterfalls.

One beach spot to visit is Balka Strand, which boasts fine white sand and if you happen to be there during the summer months there is even yoga on the beach each day at 8:30am.

It is about three hours by bus and boat from Copenhagen, which you can fly to from as little as £15 one-way.

Gotland, Sweden

Sweden‘s largest island, Gotland, boasts a UNESCO World Heritage town called Visby with cobblestone streets and pastel coloured buildings.

Venture across the island and you’ll also find the largest sand dunes in Sweden at Tofta Strand.

If you happen to be on the island during August, make sure to visit Medieval Week, which is Sweden’s largest historical festival with jousting and markets.

The island even has its very own Blue Lagoon you can go swimming in.

It takes about four hours to get to the island via the ferry from one of two mainland ports – Nynashamn which is south of Stockholm or Oskarshamn in Småland.

Nynashamn is around a 50minute drive from Stockholm, which costs from £16 to fly to, per way.

Eilean Shona, Scotland

This small tidal island in the Inner Hebrides in Scotland is completely car-free and only has around nine permanent residents.

While there isn’t much in the way of attractions on the island, you can immerse yourself in the nature as well as the calm and clear waters surrounding the island, all of which inspired J.M.Barrie’s Neverland in Peter Pan.

Travel reporter Cyann Fielding who recently visited said: “One of the activities to do on the island that is well worth experiencing, though, is taking a cold water plunge or swim – the scenery is stunning and the water is serenely calm.“

You can hop on the Caledonian Sleeper from London costing around £60 per way for a seat to Fort William, and then drive for an hour to the island.

To get to Eilean Shona itself, you’ll need to hop on a small boat operated by the island.

It is worth noting though, that you can only visit the island if you are staying in one of the shepherds huts or houses there.

Heligoland, Germany

Often considered the most fought over island in Germany, Heliogland has changed hands many times throughout its history including belonging to the Danes, the Brits and then the Germans.

In fact, the Brits tried to blow up the island during World War II resulting in loads of huge craters across the island that you can visit on scenic walks.

The island boasts huge sandstone cliffs and as a result, is brimming with wildlife including gannets.

To get to the island, you’ll need to hop on a four-hour ferry from Hamburg – which you can fly to from £16 per way.

From the Heligoland, you can also get on a ferry for five minutes to another German island called Dune, where you will find loads of seals.

You can even camp on this island, in case you want to extend your time exploring the two islands before returning to Hamburg.

Ile de Sein, France

Surrounded by azure blue waters, Ile de Sein in France sits off the tip of Brittany.

In the sea around the island, you’ll also often spot dolphins and seals.

The island has no trees, just wild moorland and white-washed houses and make sure to visit the Grand Phare, which is up 250 steps and is a 52-metre tower with views of the coastline.

Down by the port, venture around the village too, where you will find an intricate network of winding alleys, with some measuring just 85cm wide.

To get to the island, hop on a Brittany Ferry between Plymouth and Roscoff, with prices ranging depending on your vehicle.

Once in Roscoff take the two-hour drive to Audierne, where you can catch an hour-long ferry to the island, costing between €33 and €40 (£28.29 and £34.29) for a round trip.

Île d’Yeu, France

Dubbed the ‘Atlantic Pearl’, Ile d’Yeu off the coast of France is a small island where you’ll find sprawling golden sand beaches and clear waters.

The most popular way to get around the island is by hiring a bike and make sure to visit the 14th century Vieux-Chateau which sit on the edge of a cliff above the sea.

There’s also Saint Sauveur, which is a village on the island with traditional architecture including a Romanesque church surrounded by white houses.

The best way to get to the island is by flying to Nantes costing from £13 per way and taking an hour drive to Fromentine on the Vendée coast, where you can catch a 45-minute ferry across to the island.

Elba, Italy

Elba Island in Tuscany, Italy is known for boasting stunning beaches including the popular spot of Pomonte Beach, where you can swim out to a shipwreck and snorkel around it, discovering lots of brightly coloured fish.

Visit Portoferraio – the island’s main town – where you will find pastel houses as well as Villa dei Mulini, which is where Napoleon lived during his exile.

For keen hikers, take the 40minute hike to the fortress of Volterraio to capture the breathtaking sunset.

The best way to get to the island is by flying to Pisa, which costs from £17 per way and then driving for an hour to the port of Piombino in Tuscany, where you can then catch an hour-long ferry to the island.

Tabarca, Spain

Tabarca sits off the coast of Alicante in Spain and is home to around 50 people.

On the island, there are a number of cobbled streets to stroll down as well as pretty beaches, including Playa de Levante – known for being the main beach, with shallow waters ideal for families.

There are no cars on the island and it can easily be explored within a day, but don’t leave without trying some of the local restaurants where you can pick up traditional seafood such as lobster stew.

The easiest way to get to the island is by flying to Alicante from £13 per way, before hopping on a ferry from Alicante to the island, taking around an hour and costing €24 (£20.58) for a return trip.

Ilha da Armona, Portugal

Ofted nicknamed the ‘Portuguese Maldives’, Ilha da Armona sits on the Algarve.

Ilha da Armona forms part of the Ria Formosa Natural Park where you’ll find no cars, white sand beaches and calm, shallow waters.

Praia de Armona is the main Blue Flag beach on the island and is known for being a family-friendly spot.

After exploring the beach, make sure to head to one of the waterfront tavernas to try some of the local cuisine.

In the village itself, you can expect to see colorful houses and flower-filled courtyards too.

To get to the island, fly to Faro from £15 per way, before hopping on a 10-minute train to Olhao, where you can catch a ferry to the island for as little as €4.20 (£3.60) for a return trip.

Paxos, Greece

The Greek island of Paxos is often dubbed one of the most beautiful islands in the world.

Head to Gaios village where you can explore a Venetian-style waterfront was quaint shops and tavernas looking out across the water.

For a beach spot, visit Kanoni Beach which is a pebble beach but sheltered by the bay of Lakka and surrounded by fragrant olive groves,

You can get to the island by flying to Corfu from £15 per way, before hopping on a ferry from Corfu to the island, which takes between an hour and an hour and a half.

Love Island winner Julia Majchrzak fumed ‘it’s not funny’ after she was left ’embarrassed’ by fellow winner and partner Lorenzo Alessi when he was seen to be liking models’ photos on Instagram

Love Island star Julia Majchrzak has accused Lorenzo Alessi of leaving her “embarrassed” with his post-villa antics during another car-crash interview for the winners.

Appearing on Capital FM in what should have been an upbeat catch-up with the lovebirds, Julia said “it wasn’t funny” as she was reminded of her partner liking the photos of models on social media after leaving the villa.

The pair had a disastrous first interview on This Morning, where it was revealed that they had last seen each other at the airport after flying back from Majorca. Lorenzo claimed he had been too “busy” to arrange a date with Julia.

After the tense scenes, the duo appeared on Capital XTRA on Wednesday, where the Polish bombshell continued to hit out Lorenzo’s ‘disrespectful’ behaviour.

When they were asked about Lorenzo’s social media ‘like-spree’, Julia said: “Guys, this is not funny. He’s already embarrassed me online… He had no time to arrange a date in five days, but was sat in bed liking other girls’ Instagram pictures.”

Lorenzo admitted that he had messed up and was still “learning what is acceptable”. But, the winner, who has been called the ‘King of Situationships’ by some fans, also reminded people that he and Julia were still early on in their relationship. He said: “This is the thing. I feel like why I didn’t want to rush things in the villa… We’re not running around getting married tomorrow. I’m learning how to be in a committed relationship, and I’m learning what is acceptable and what is not.

“To be 100% honest, it was pure naivety. I did not think it would be picked up by the press… These are now real-world things that we can experience together.”

Julia then looked at her phone to see if he had liked her pictures as well as those of models, and he had not. “Did you even have time to like my photos?” she asked. “Guess what guys, he’s not under my Instagram!”

Lorenzo argued that Julia’s posts simply hadn’t turned up on his feed yet. This came only a day after Julia confronted Lorenzo live on TV. When This Morning host Josie Gibson asked the couple if they had said they loved each other yet, they both answered “no”. Lorenzo added: “It’s going that way. The feelings are developing, everything is in the right position, everything is moving in the right direction…so I feel like give it some time.”

When asked if she felt the same way, Julia turned to her partner and asked him why they hadn’t been on a date: “Well, where’s the date? Where’s the date Lorenzo?”

He immediately answered: “The date is coming. I’ve been busy.” But this wasn’t good enough for Julia who said it had “been five days” and she was “still waiting”.

Amid their awkward interviews, fans on TikTok have also claimed that Lorenzo was saving their videos about him – particularly edits of him and Jasmine Muller. The pair were together at the start of the show and remained friends, but many fans wanted them to end up back together and made videos about the two of them being in love.

One fan who had made a video saying Lorenzo should “go get your Princess Jasmine” shared a screenshot of her notifications, where it said that Lorenzo had saved her video. She said over the top: “Lorenzo, I’m taking your phone away cause this is so funny but actually insane.”

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At 5am on Arkösund bay, it is so light it could be midday. I slip out of the pretty clapboard Arkösunds hotell, opened in 1895, as a small boat putters into the Baltic Sea, the sun sparkling on its calm waters. A wooden boardwalk invites me on to a string of tiny islets as geese arrow overhead and a mother swan coaxes her fluffy cygnets into a nook under a bridge.

I’m on Sweden’s east coast to explore the Östergötland archipelago, a sprawl of about 9,000 islands scattered across the Baltic Sea a few hours south of Stockholm. Quieter and less crowded than the better-known isles off Stockholm or Gothenburg, it covers several pockets of coastline and smaller archipelagos: Arkösund, Sankt Anna, Gryt and Tjust. The larger islands are flecked with traditional red timber summer houses, and are home to seals, sea birds, and dense, verdant forests of alder, cedar, oak and pine.

I’d arrived in a suitably slow fashion. My journey to Arkösund – a 45-minute drive from Norrköping station along a road locals call the End of the World – started 24 hours earlier, with an early morning Eurostar from London to Brussels, then on to Hamburg via Cologne, where I boarded the SJ EuroNight Train to Norrköping. I slept while we slipped across the Danish border in the early hours and crossed the Øresund Bridge into Sweden. Dawn unfolded in pink, dusky waves as we shuddered out of Malmö towards Östergötland.

Visitors navigate the region’s islands in sailboats, small motorboats or kayaks, spending elongated summer days swimming, fishing and hiking. From Arkösund jetty, I take to the water with Åsa, a local guide, in a motorboat belonging to Kauko Lindstedt, a Finn who has spent 40 years living on the island of Aspöja, a four-mile crossing away. There is an unspoken rule, Åsa says, that if you spot a moored kayak or boat, move on. In the Swedish spirit of allemansrätten – the national law to roam and sleep freely in nature – there are enough islands for everyone.

Aspöja is one of the few inhabited islands and Lindstedt, as with many islanders I meet, is industrious: building, hunting, smoking fish, running boating tours, and eager to share his home, where just 25 people live year-round. We land at his jetty and walk across grassy meadows dotted with lumps of granite and teeming with butterflies. There are no cars, though the jetty has a communal wheelbarrow for groceries and post. We meet Helen, who farms sheep and cattle, knits, tans sheepskins, keeps bees, grows vegetables and runs the only restaurant, Forsmans på Aspöja, with her daughter. Lunch is smoked fish and boiled potatoes heaped with fresh dill, alongside a glass of Baltic seawater, filtered through the island’s small desalination plant.

On the trip back to the mainland, we pass an island stacked with fishing nets, buoys and wooden crates. A pair of craggy-faced men wave – brothers in their 70s, the final vestiges of a once thriving fishing industry, Åsa tells me. They are the last two fishers legally able to catch eels; the licence can only be passed on through family, and with none it ends with them.

The next day, Åsa and I drive further along the coast to the Sankt Anna archipelago, stopping for lunch at Mauritzberg Castle, a 400-year-old manor house rebuilt in pastel rococo splendour after the Russians burned it down in 1719. At the bay of Sankt Anna, I meet a German tourist packing his kayak for a 10-day solo adventure. He tells me he paddles for days from island to island without seeing a single soul and adores it – it’s his third trip here.

From the shore I clamber into a kayak alongside Andreas, my guide, another Finn who works for outfitter Kajakparadiset, and we paddle into the languid, liquid landscape. We stop for fika – hot coffee and something sweet – on one islet, stretching out on sun-scorched granite as a sea eagle soars above.

That night I sleep at Skärgårdsbyn Mon, a hotel on the mainland shore, after a meal of buttered sea bream and potatoes eaten on the wooden balcony of the Boathouse restaurant, overlooking the marina, with the islands spilling out behind. I wonder enviously which one the German kayaker has chosen to sleep on underneath the barely darkened sky.

I wake to rain. But with temperatures averaging around 23C, summer here is comfortable. Driving south with Åsa, I learn that about 70% of the country is forested, and it’s crossed by hiking and biking trails.

At Fyrudden, a hamlet on the south-eastern end of a narrow peninsula in the Gryt archipelago, Magnus Lindkvist, a boat captain, is waiting in his grandfather’s wooden boat to take us across eight miles of open water to the island of Harstena. It’s where his grandparents once lived and he spent every summer of his childhood, and continues to go there today with his family.

A cluster of 18th-century cabins still stand. The old schoolhouse is a museum, depicting the history of these wild islands, where herring, eel fishing, seabird eggs and seal blubber were once the means of the islanders’ survival. A 1641 census registers two households, and a family tree traces local names back to their two families – including Magnus, and now his son.

Back on the mainland, we drive north and inland to spend the night in Söderköping, where in 1281 King Magnus Ladulås’ wife, Helvig, was crowned in its medieval church. This tiny town is steeped in history, standing at the eastern end of the Göta Canal, which the Swedes, in a bid to avoid Danish taxes, began building in 1810, connecting Gothenburg to the Baltic Sea. I spend the next morning cycling alongside it, stopping to sample ice-cream from the Smultronstället cafe and handmade chocolates from Jolla.

By evening, I am back in Norrköping, an industrial city once booming with textile and paper mills powered by water. Today, the mills have been restored into a stylish district of bars, apartments and offices. The streets are alive at night as students celebrate the end of term and city revellers gear up for a weekend of national celebrations.

From the train window the following day, as I head back to the UK, I watch the fields and forests unfurl as Norrköping station slides away behind me, the summer light filtering through the trees and across the red weatherboard farmsteads. A skein of geese flies overhead in a V, and I imagine the kayaker searching for his perfect island to camp tonight, and Magnus teaching his son to fish for herring from his great-grandfather’s boat – the delicate balance of nature and visitor continuing in harmony.

The trip was provided by Visit Sweden. The writer travelled by rail from Eurostar London to Brussels (from £39 one-way), then to Cologne/Köln (from £16.50 one-way), and on to Hamburg (from £16.50 one-way). The SJ EuroNight train from Hamburg to Nörrköping costs from £40 one-way. Elite Grand hotel Norrköping has doubles from £80 B&B; Söderköpings Brunn from £93 B&B; Skärgårdsbyn Mon from £100; and Arkösunds hotell from £170 B&B

WITH temperatures rising around the Med, make the most of cooling sea breezes by cruising.

There are great deals to be had for a last-minute cruise getaway. Lisa Minot picks out a handful . . . 

1) Marella Cruises is a great option for those who want to sail knowing they won’t have to shell out more onboard.

Cruises include flights from regional airports, all your food, drinks, tips, charges and transfers.

Check out the Aegean Shores cruise on Marella Voyager, to combine ancient sites with top beaches. The eight-day round trip from Corfu calls at Piraeus for Athens, Kusadasi in Turkey, Crete, Santorini and Kefalonia.

Now from £1,150pp, a saving of £881pp. flying out this Friday. See tui.co.uk.

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2) Try a no-fly cruise from Southampton to a host of Mediterranean ports. MSC Virtuosa is a family-friendly ship with Formula 1 racing simulators, full-size bowling alley and award-winning kids’ clubs as well as a waterpark and a high ropes course.

Its nine-night Portugal & Spain cruise departs August 20 and calls at Brest, France; Lisbon, Portugal; Gibraltar; and Malaga and Cadiz in Spain.

Prices are from £1,124pp including full board and entertainment. See iglucruise.com.

3) PREFER a child-free trip? Discover the delights of Northern Spain on a no-fly cruise from Southampton onboard Fred Olsen’s Borealis.

This adult-only ship offers a classic British experience with afternoon tea served daily and spaces for painting and crafting.

There is a card room for bridge tournaments and the outdoor main pool has a retractable roof.

The cruise departs August 26 and calls at Getxo where the Bilbao estuary meets the Bay of Biscay.

Then it is on to Santander with its Belle Epoque architecture and lovely beaches. Five nights’ full-board is from £775pp. See cruise.co.uk.

4) HEAD off on an all- inclusive Italian adventure on Norwegian Epic.

Fly from Southampton to Rome before sailing to Salerno, Sicily, Livorno for Florence and Villefranche-sur-Mer for Nice and Marseille before disembarking in Barcelona for your flight home.

All-inclusive starts from £969pp, leaving September 13. See cruise1st.co.uk.

5) ESCAPE the heat and enjoy a tranquil sailing to the Norwegian Fjords with P&O Cruises.

Departing Southampton on the flagship Iona, there are calls at Stavanger, Olden, Hellesylt and Haugesund as well as stunning scenic sailings along the fjords.

Iona’s wrap-around promenade deck features outdoor dining, whirlpool tubs over the side of the ship and lots of seating.

The SkyDome on the top deck has a climate- controlled indoor pool area and, at night, turns into a thrilling entertainment hub.

Seven nights’ full board is from 989pp, departing Southampton on August 1. See pocruises.com.

Having grown up on an island with about 100,000 inhabitants, Nowacki is rapidly become one of the best breaststrokers in the world.

He left Jersey to train at Millfield School and will move to Loughborough after the Games to continue his swimming as part of Team GB’s elite squad preparing for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Nathan Jegou, who coached Nowacki as a youngster and is managing the Jersey swimming team in Glasgow, says he is excited at what the islander can do.

“It’s just the start of his journey, and the last two years for him has been phenomenal,” he told BBC Jersey.

“I’m excited to see what he does and we’re proud that he’s one of us.

“We’re such a small island, to come here and get a silver medal, it means everything to him, means everything to us, and we hope he can maybe do it again later in the week.”

WIMBLEDON and the World Cup may be over, but the Tour de France is still going – until tomorrow.

So if watching those Lycra-clad professionals pedal around Spain and France has inspired you to get your bum in that saddle, take a look at these two-wheeled getaways.

These five lesser-used trails showcase some of the most gorgeous scenery, away from the intimidating cycling crowds.

Better still, each trip has been designed with cyclists in mind and includes perks such as accommodation with cycling facilities, bike-friendly transfers and bike carriage.

MENORCA: This Balearic island is far from the well-ridden, high-speed routes on the Tour de France.

Instead you’ll be greeted by rugged coastal trails and ancient paths, including the 185km Camí de Cavalls.

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Translated as The Path of Horses, it was originally used by knights to patrol the coast on horseback in the 14th century.

GO: Seven nights’ self-catering at the three-star Tramontana Park Aparthotel is from £829pp including flights from Manchester on August 31, plus 22kg baggage allowance, bike carriage and return sports transfers.

Approximately £24 in tourist tax is payable at the property.

See jet2holidays.com.

LAKE DISTRICT AND PENNINES: The north of the UK is home to some of the hilliest landscapes, which means this trip isn’t for the faint-hearted.

Those climbs will be rewarded, however, with some of the most breathtaking scenery.

You’ll also tackle Allenheads, which claims to be the highest village in England.

GO: The five-night self-guided coast to coast trip costs from £895pp including breakfasts and lunches, as well as accommodation.

E-bike hire available.

See skedaddle.com.

DALMATIAN COAST, CROATIA: If dramatic coastal scenery is what you’re after, look no further than the Dalmatian Coast, where craggy mountainscapes offer sweeping views of a sparkling ocean.

Staying in the Šibenik-Knin region puts you within reach of some versatile routes for all abilities.

The Krka National Park is known for its cascading waterfalls.

GO: Seven nights’ all-inclusive at the three-star Amadria Park Apartments is from £629pp, based on a family of four sharing, including flights from London Stansted on August 18, plus 22kg baggage allowance, bike carriage and return sports transfers.

See jet2holidays.com.

LOIRE VALLEY, FRANCE: Worried about those aching limbs?

This Loire Valley itinerary includes spa time, so you can rest and recuperate in between cycle stints.

These very easy and flat routes will take you through charming French villages and sweet vineyards whose vines are dripping in plump grapes right about now.

GO: The four-night Loire Spa Escape costs from £895pp including serviced touring bikes with a pannier bag and luggage transfers.

Flights cost extra. See cyclingforsofties.com.

COSTA DORADA, SPAIN: There’s a reason so many pros choose to train on Spain’s Costa Dorada.

Roads are smooth and wide, with very few potholes, plus there’s a variety of terrain that means you can pick your difficulty level.

Weave your way through the wine regions of Priorat and Montsant or challenge yourself with the La Mussara climb that takes you almost 1,000 metres above sea level.

GO: Seven nights’ half-board at three+ star Medplaya Hotel Calypso is from £769pp including flights from East Midlands airport on August 17, plus 22kg baggage allowance, bike carriage and return sports transfers.

Approximately £22 in tourist tax is payable at the property. See jet2holidays.com.

Love Island stars Aidan and Priya have split up in emotional scenes that aired just days before the final and now fans are “genuinely worried” for one contestant in particular

Love Island stars Aidan and Priya have split up in emotional scenes just before they were dumped from the villa. The couple had been going strong on the ITV2 reality dating show, but things went awry when Aidan made a comment about his significant other, claiming that she “pounced” on him when they were in bed, and things have not really been the same since.

On Friday night’s episode of the reality show, the pair had the ultimate conversation, which viewers will know came just days after Aidan told Priya he was unsure of just how he felt about the girl who was meant to be his significant other.

Delivering the decision to break up, he told Priya: “It’s deep, it’s feelings. Maybe I’m really overthinking it, Priya. Maybe I’m really overthinking it. I’m gonna do not what I wanna do to not ruin our friendship. Let’s leave it.”

Priya then told the girls in the makeup room that they hard decided to part ways, and viewers instantly flooded social media. One fan wrote on X: “Sorry was Priya and Aidan’s friendship even that good to begin with?

Another said: “For the sake of Priya’s mental health, I hope she doesn’t open social media after the show & the wellness team helps her. I’m genuinely worried”A third wrote: “Why is Priya acting as if she’s the one that ended things with Aidan LMAOOOO”

Just moments later, it was revealed that Priya and Aidan had been voted out by the public anyway after fans decided they were the least-compatible couple on screen. Aidan was on the verge of tears as he said his goodbyes to the boys.

He told them: “The relationships, the friendships I have built in here have been incredible. It’s emotional but I feel really grateful to have been here. All you boys have helped be grow, and helped me change as a man, even though I haven’t found love.”

Priya was then quick to speak to the girls and describe them as a “sisterhood” as she thanked them for everything they had done for her.

Following the emotional exit, Priya spoke out about her time in the villa and seemed to only have positive things to say about her experience.

She said: “It feels surreal. I’ve had the best time ever. I’ve learned a lot, made mistakes, but also met the most amazing people ever. I feel very grateful for the experience.I’m really excited to catch up with my friends and family.

“If I could describe the experience in one word, I’d say humbling. Extraordinarily humbling. I’m going to remain strong and just take everything in my stride.”

When asked what it was like to leave specifically, Priya said: “It was actually really positive. We had a really nice ending. We had an amazing dinner, dressed to the nines, and left together.

“I believe that we have a genuine love for each other, whether that be platonic or romantic. I actually wouldn’t change the end to my journey in the slightest.”

Love Island continues Sunday night at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.

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Love Island fans have been left furious after dramatic scenes played out between Aidan and Priya and he tried to salvage his relationship with her after his “disrespectful” comment

Love Island fans have been left furious after dramatic scenes played out between Aidan and Priya. The couple had been going strong on the ITV2 reality dating show, but things went awry when Aidan made a comment about his significant other, claiming that she “pounced” on him when they were in bed.

The property broker, 23, came under fire from the public and his fellow contestants for the way he spoke, and swept the board on Wednesday night’s episode during the Graftie Awards, scooping up publicly voted titles of Flirtiest Performance, Plot Twist Award, and Raunchiest Moment.

After it all played out, Priya and Aidan had a heart-to-heart about where they are at as a couple as they went on their first date, with Aidan trying to explain that he doesn’t necessarily have feelings for the business development manager, 25, but still hopes to build some sort of future with her.

Speaking about his comment directly, she told him: “It makes a girl feel a certain type of way… it’s nasty.”

Later on, around the makeup table, the girls tried to persuade Priya that Aidan’s comment was “disrespectful” and opined that he would never have said it if he really did love her.

Taking to X, one fan said: “this series is just a priya humiliation ritual atp, and another said: “Priya… Calm down!”…. SORRY!???? Aidan bro dont piss me off”

A third wrote: “I’m sorry but Priya is not in the wrong. What Asian said is digusting.” A fourth said: “you definitely did deserve them aidan”

Other Islanders, including Jasmine, have accused the couple of being “fake” and viewers certainly had a lot to say about that as well.

One said: “Why can’t we vote couples out? I am so sick of mica and samraj and Aidan and priya they really don’t need any more time in there blowing their own horns saying there still there. ITS CAUSE WE CANT PUBLICLY VOTE.”

Another said: “Jas I like you but Julia’s opinion has f*ck all to do with her wanting to see Aidan and Priya together. We can all see that their connection isn’t real by the way Aidan carries himself. Please REST.”

Another said: “Jasmine wants Aiden’s validation so bad and it’s so disgusting to watch. This is a well educated woman embarrassing herself on live TV for bunch of losers. “

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‘Can you hear that?” my guide Andrea Wellmeyer asks as I sink a little deeper into the wet ground, cold mud seeping between my toes. When the wind drops, I detect a faint but distinct crackling, similar to the rustle of a sweet wrapper or the bubbling of sparkling water. “That’s the Wattknistern,” she says, “a natural phenomenon caused by the tens of thousands of mud shrimp that live here.”

We’re standing in the Wadden Sea mudflats on Norderney, an island just off Germany’s North Sea coast. It’s Friday evening at low tide. In the town centre, bars are pumping with music, but here, just 15 minutes along the southern edge of the island, it’s a completely different story.

“A lot of the flora and fauna is found under the surface,” Andrea says, showing me the tree-like tops of sand mason worm casings and the tips of marsh samphire growing upwards like tiny asparagus. Flipping over a cluster of wild oysters, she startles a crab that raises its pincers in the air before wriggling out of sight once more. Orange-beaked oystercatchers scurry back and forth on the exposed seabed and a pair of spoonbills wade gracefully through the shallow water beyond.

Norderney is one of the seven inhabited islands that make up the East Frisian islands (Ostfriesische Inseln) in Germany. The others are Borkum, Juist, Baltrum, Langeoog, Spiekeroog and Wangerooge. Stretching more than 50 miles from west to east, they are a popular holiday destination, known for their unique coastal landscapes and diverse wildlife, from grey seals and migrating birds to the creatures found in the mud.

Each island has its own identity, from upmarket Juist with its horse-drawn transport to the historic red brick houses of sleepy Spiekeroog; but all have vast sandy beaches, grassy dunes and tidal mudflats. The islands belong to the larger Wadden Sea Unesco world heritage site and have been part of the Lower Saxon Wadden Sea national park since its formation in 1986.

Norderney was one of the first German seaside resorts in the North Sea. Today, historic seaside villas and retreats founded on the health benefits of briny sea air sit next to modern hotels and restaurants, such as Inselloft Norderney and Michelin-recommended Oktopussy, where summer scallops come with a caramelised miso-cauliflower purée. My favourite spot quickly becomes Marienhöhe, a dune-top pavilion built more than 100 years ago, where I eat delicately battered fish with warm potato salad.

Despite being one of only two East Frisian islands where cars are permitted, the best way to explore Norderney is by bike. Leaving the town in the west, I zoom along the bike lanes that run through the dunes, stopping at a popular stretch of beach called Weiße Düne, before heading south towards the island’s tallest building, a lighthouse constructed between 1872 and 1874.

Soon after, roughly halfway across the island, I reach a sign that says I can’t go any further on my bike. This is a Ruhezone (quiet/restricted zone), a highly protected area where you can only walk on a couple of marked footpaths. A rusty shipwreck lies on the sand and seals bask in the sun at the far end.

There are strict rules governing access in several sections of the island, part of a quest to let nature be nature. Heading out with an official guide helps you see and learn more. Alongside Wattwanderungen (mudflat hikes), you can also book salt marsh walks, birding excursions and boat trips to see the seals. The newly renovated visitor centre at Norderney harbour also has extensive information about the local ecosystems.

My next stops are Spiekeroog and Langeoog, two calmer, car-free islands to the east. On Langeoog, I join a tour to learn more about the birds I have spotted over the last few days. “Many species need the Wadden Sea as the focal point of their migration, as a place to rest,” national park guide Fiona Wettstein says. “When they first arrive, they have completely burned through their fat reserves and practically drop down here.”

Setting off with bikes and binoculars, we spot red knots, redshanks, avocets and sandpipers, as well as squeaking lapwings with long crests and a short-eared owl swooping through the grasses. Geese with fluffy chicks in tow strut around the island, hissing loudly if you get too close. More than 10 million birds make a pit stop in the Wadden Sea every year, with spring and autumn the best time to see them. The shoulder season is also a good time to visit to avoid the summer holiday crowds.

I stay at Silt & Sand, a bright and airy design hotel just behind the dunes that opened last year. The expansive (almost 9-mile-long) beach on the other side is dotted with Strandkörbe, traditional hooded wicker armchairs found on beaches along the German coast.

Despite the chain layout of the islands and their close proximity to one another, it isn’t possible to “hop” between them. Instead, you have to return to the mainland and make your way along the coast to a different ferry terminal each time, the exception being Juist and Norderney, which have a shared departure point in Norddeich. It is possible to walk from the mainland to some of the islands at low tide, but only with a certified guide.

After my first few hours on Norderney, I give up on the weather forecast and start operating on a cloud by cloud basis instead, dark moody skies moving on as quickly as they appear. More reliable is the wind, churning the sea, bending the trees and blowing a fine mist of sand over the compact layer below. Having biked eastwards with ease, I’m met by a roaring resistance on my return, a fierce gust wrapping around my hat and prising it off.

“This connection to the elements is part of the experience,” says Andrea. “Your entire system is challenged and pushed out of its comfort zone, something that doesn’t happen so often these days,” she adds as we make our way back to the familiarity and ease of the town.

The trip was provided by Tourismus Marketing Niedersachsen and the German National Tourist Office. Doubles at Inselloft Norderney from €160 and at Silt & Sand from €141 room-only. Book ferries through individual websites: Norderney and Juist; Spiekeroog.

IF you’re yet to book your holiday this summer, then there are a bunch of islands that are set to be the next big thing.

Expedia has launched its 2026 Island Hot List list – not based on their temperatures, but the ones that are trending right now.

Expedia created its Island Hot List from the spots around the world that have seen the biggest increase in traveller interest between September 2025 and March of this year.

At the very top of that list, is beautiful St Lucia in the Caribbean.

Over the past year, the island has seen a huge 125 per cent increase in searches.

It’s no surprise really, as St Lucia is a tropical paradise with stunning scenery from jungles to volcanoes and its mix of white and black sand beaches.

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One Sun Writer who visited a few years ago hiked through its rainforests and sunbathed on the golden sands of Reduit Beach.

He added: “With beautiful scenery, indulgent food and plenty of adventure, it’s not hard to see why St Lucia has stolen the hearts of the young and old as well as families and honeymooners.”

For anyone who wants to visit, the best time to visit is between February to May – and there are some affordable winter packages.

It’s not just far-flung islands that topped the list – plenty in Europe did well too.

Second on the list is Porto Santo, a small Portuguese island in Madeira.

Expedia said it’s “a quieter alternative to Funchal and mainland Europe’s busiest beach destinations, known for its golden sands and relaxed pace.”

It’s been called a ‘golden oasis‘ by Visit Madeira and has enormous sandy beaches – despite being the smallest inhabited island on the archipelago.

It also has sea coves and the waters are great for diving and snorkelling.

To get to Porto Santo, Brits will have to fly directly to Funchal and then it’s a quick 25-minute flight to the neighbouring island.

Also in the top 10 is Syros, a Greek island that’s much lesser-known than its neighbour, Mykonos.

There’s lots to do there from exploring its main town of Ermoupoli, to the village of Kini, which is known for its seafood restaurants.

Of course there are plenty of beautiful beaches too.

It might not be the hot escape that’s usually associated with islands around the world, but the Lofoten Islands are a trip worth considering.

The Lofoten Islands is an archipelago consisting of roughly 80 islands in Norway.

The main islands include Austvågøya, Gimsøya, Vestvågøya, Flakstadøya, and Moskenesøya.

In fact the Lofoten Islands are so beautiful that with its frozen backdrop, colourful fishing villages, and craggy mountains that it’s said to have inspired the landscape for Disney‘s film Frozen.

From mid-May to the end of July, the sun doesn’t set there – it’s called Midnight Sun, when the sun doesn’t drop below the horizon.

Other islands soaring in demand include Praslin which is the second-largest island in the Seychelles.

Here, interest has increased by a whopping 80 per cent.

Here’s the full list of Expedia’s ‘Island Hot List 2026’…

1. St Lucia
2. Porto Santo, Madeira, Portugal
3. Praslin, Seychelles
4. Syros, Greece
5. Lofoten Islands, Norway
6. Palawan, Philippines
7. Culebra, Puerto Rico
8. Sanibel Island, Florida, USA
9. Phu Quoc, Vietnam
10. Fiji

A woman has been arrested by Spanish police as she attempted to board a flight out of the country, having allegedly left a £2,000 hotel bill unpaid

Restaurant owners have complained that “dine and dash” offences are on the increase, with some customers ducking out on bills of hundreds of pounds. But as shocking as those losses are, they are dwarfed by a massive £2,000 bill left unpaid after one family’s 11-night holiday at an all-inclusive resort in the Canary Islands.

Officers of Spain’s National Police have arrested a foreign tourist on suspicion of fraud after she allegedly left a hotel in San Bartolomé de Tirajana (Gran Canaria) without paying for her stay, which was valued at 2,483 euros (£2,125).

In a press release, the National Police explained that hotel managers had reported that a family of two adults and a child had left the premises after an 11-night all-inclusive stay without settling the bill.

The stay had been booked through the resort’s website, and the customers had provided a credit card number as a security deposit. However, when hotel staff attempted to process the bill at the end of the guests’ stay, they were unable to complete the transaction.

Despite making several attempts to contact the customers, no payment was received and police officers were mobilised to intercept the guest as she attempted to leave the country.

Video footage provided by the National Police shows the as-yet-unnamed suspect being arrested at Gran Canaria Airport. After her arrest, the woman was taken to the Maspalomas police station for processing and was subsequently placed at the disposal of the judicial authorities.

The National Police emphasised its commitment to protecting the Canary Islands’ tourism sector and reminded visitors that any attempt to avoid payment for goods or services will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Here in the UK, a 2018 survey found that one in 20 people had walked out without paying for a meal.

Donna Jones, the Conservative police and crime commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, told The Daily Mail that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of “dine and dash” offences in recent years.

While some have blamed the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, Ms Jones dismissed that suggestion, saying, “They’re driving away in their own cars.” She urged any businesses affected by crimes of this kind to “share images online … and to name and shame those individuals”.

Kate Nicholls, the CEO of the industry organisation UKHospitality, told the Guardian that while only a minority of customers behaved in this way, incidents of people avoiding paying for meals could be “a serious matter” for the bars and restaurants involved.

“These businesses operate on very tight net-profit margins – less than 4% – and often it can be quite big-spend items that people are going for,” she explained.

Adding that referring to the offences as “dine and dash” escapades trivialised what could be a very serious problem for hospitality businesses: “Let’s call it what it is,” she said. “This is theft and fraud and it should be prosecuted as such. It’s not a victimless crime. It is money that is being taken from a business for goods and services consumed – it’s exactly the same as shoplifting.”

IF YOU are visiting Greece this summer, then you need to be aware of a major problem happening across several islands.

Seven Greek islands have announced that they are struggling with water supply following hot weather.

The island of Astypalaia is currently relying on bottled water for drinking, with this being the second driest season since 2020.

And this is then worsened in the peak season when the population rises from the 1,400 permanent residents to around 32,000 to 70,000 tourists.

As a result, local authorities have introduced emergency measures which include blocking irrigation for farmers.

Other islands that have declared an emergency include Alonnisos, Leros, Karpathos, Patmos, Symi and Tinos.

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As a result of the shortage of water across the islands, the Greek Government is committing €15million (£12.8million) for water infrastructure across nine islands.

It comes as experts also have warned that rising temperatures across the world could worsen water shortages by 2049.

A number of hotels across the islands are already taking measures to reduce the amount of water used.

For example, one hotel in Chora is offering guests €5 (£4.25) vouchers if they do not use the cleaning services each day.

Earlier this, Corfu also announced water shortages, particularly due to tourism leading to four times as much water consumption.

The Netherlands announced this week that they are experiencing a water crisis as well, though also confirmed that it does not impact drinking water.

Love Island’s Ellie Chadwick has spoken out after quitting the show shortly after a series of explosive scenes played out on the dating series following her doomed romance with Finley Maddock

Love Island’s Ellie Chadwick has spoken out after dramatically quitting the show. The real estate videographer, 24, had been taking part in the hit ITV2 reality dating series and was enjoying a blossoming romance with Finley Maddock, but it all started to go wrong when he fell for a bombshell who entered the villa.

In explosive scenes that aired on Thursday night, Ellie stormed out of the villa for good, having decided to leave when Finley was voted out by the other Islanders, and has now insisted that everything stated to kick off after bombshell Elicia set her sights on Finley during a recoupling.

She said: “When Elicia chose Fin at the recoupling, all hell broke loose. I was angry. As all the girls were saying, I just lost my cool. There had already been a little bit of back and forth. I more or less knew what was coming, but it had been back and forth and I just lost it. I had too much emotion in me to let out. I’d laid my cards out.

“I couldn’t do any more. I was just hurt. It wasn’t like she had done anything wrong. She had a job to do,she was a Bombshell. I was just feeling a type of way about it, and that was okay. Everyone in that situation was feeling a type of way, mine just came out in a louder way than everyone else’s.”

The reality star then admitted that she had hoped to remain in a couple with Finley and then accused of him of dealing with the situation in such a “poor” way to begin with, but ultimately thinks she has grown from her experience on the dating programme.

She said: “Obviously, seeing Finley up there was hard because it was a recent event and he hadn’t been in the bottom before. Then, when we got told about the second dumping and that we had to choose, I already kind of knew in my gut that it wasn’t going to go the way I was hoping, which was for me and Finley to stay there and continue to grow. There were no ifs, buts or maybes, or what ifs, or how could this play out.

“Finley knows fine well that I feel like he navigated it very poorly. I made that very vocal and I will stand on that. I always will. I think the communication was poor.

“A lot of the things that happened were not relayed to me in a proper way, which I would have appreciated. I’m big enough to take the truth on the chest.

“I’m happy with that. I’m a very direct, upfront person. I just think the communication was poor and the way he handled it wasn’t great. I understand he was confused. I was understanding the whole time, but there was only so much understanding I could do.

“There are definitely ways it could have been better, but we live and we learn. That’s what Love Island is. It’s about living and learning. I’ve learned a lot about myself there and I’ve got to give him grace on that.

“It doesn’t mean the grafting boots are off because we’re out now, those boots are still on. I believed in the connection we had so much. I just knew in my heart that it was going to work, regardless of what was going on.

Love Island continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX