Love Island’s Ope Sowande says his parents, who fostered him at three months old, are “the reason I’m here today”.

The 27-year-old West End performer was an Islander on season 13 of the reality TV show, which he was on for almost two weeks.

Sowande was born in Hackney but brought up in Boston, Lincolnshire, after he was fostered by parents Pauline and Barry.

Sowande said: “I used to love going to Skegness for nights out and Springfields in Spalding with my mum.”

Sowande attended Boston West Primary School before going to Haven High Academy, and left Lincolnshire when he was 17, he said.

While he knows who his biological parents are, he said he is not in touch with them.

Speaking on BBC Radio Lincolnshire, Sowande said: “I had a really good time growing up.

“Pauline and Barry are my parents. They raised me and gave me everything.

“The reason I’m here today is purely because of them,” he said.

Sowande said his Love Island appearance had brought together his Lincolnshire family and friends from London.

He said: “It was beautiful because they’ve never met but they made a group chat.

“For me that was so sick, I loved that.”

He said his mum Pauline did not watch Love Island initially.

“She’d just be like ‘why are you saying that, why are you arguing for, don’t lose your head’.

“It’s impossible. In there, you can’t not lose your head. It’s so hard.”

He added that he had been “chatting to a few girls” since leaving the villa.

“I’ve not chatted to any of the contestants but, if I was, Charleen Murphy is beautiful and Martha is really beautiful too,” he said.

Stepping foot into the Love Island villa “felt surreal”, Sowande said, and was “the most overwhelming feeling ever”.

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North.

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