Ella Thomas, a Love Island star, has opened up about her new relationship with Lloyd Jones, a football player for Charlton Athletic FC, who she has been dating for the past six months.
It’s been just over a year since Ella Thomas, the 24-year-old Scottish model and influencer who captivated viewers with her confidence, poise and energy, left the Love Island villa. But Ella reveals in an exclusive interview with new that her real love story has only just begun. In the villa, Ella coupled up with Tyrique Hyde, who is currently starring in Love Island games in Fiji, but the pair split just seven months later. Now, Ella tells us she has found a new man.
Ella, is dating 29-year-old Charlton Athletic FC footballer Lloyd Jones – and she is his number one supporter. With what she describes as a mix of “quiet confidence and old-school charm”, Lloyd has swept her off her feet – and the couple, she exclusively tells OK!, are already building a life together.
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The pair bumped into each other in a Mayfair club back in February, and since then the sparks have continued to fly, much to Ella’s delight. “I honestly wasn’t even planning to go out that night,” she recalls with a laugh, curled up on a cream sofa in the chic apartment she now shares with Lloyd. “My friend persuaded me to come to this event, and at first I was like, ‘No, I can’t be bothered.’ But then I thought, ‘Why not? I’ll come for a little bit.’”
From that moment, she and Lloyd were inseparable, and took the huge step of moving in together after just six months. “Honestly, from the day we met, we saw each other every single day. So moving in together just felt natural. If anything, it’s made us even closer. Now when I come home, I know I’m coming home to him,” she says.
The couple’s new London base is as stylish as you would expect from a footballer and an influencer. “We wanted something modern, with enough space for both of us – and for my closet!” Ella jokes. “We’re young, so we wanted city life, not a house in the suburbs just yet.”
But, she continues, furnishing the flat hasn’t all been smooth sailing. “Furniture takes so long to arrive!” she sighs. “But we’re making it ours, piece by piece. I’m such a beige girl – cream sofa, cream bed, everything neutral. Lloyd’s banned from my glam room though, that’s my space.”
That last-minute decision to go out clubbing earlier in the year changed everything for Ella. Recalling their first meeting, she says Lloyd spotted her first. “He thought I was staring at him,” she grins, shaking her head. “But I couldn’t even see him – he was behind a pillar! I only noticed him when I went to the bathroom, and that’s when he stopped me.”
She adds that the moment was characterized by his unwavering confidence. He immediately posed my name, kind of straight up, without a second thought. Then he said, “You’re spending the entire night with me.” I was like, “Please excuse me”? But he was so self-assured, which, to be honest, I admire. I stayed with him the entire time, therefore.”
The connection was instant, says Ella, and Lloyd didn’t waste any time in asking to see her again. “He literally said, ‘When am I taking you out? Tomorrow?’ And I thought, ‘OK, big talk!’ But the next day, he really did take me out.”
Their first encounter was merely a business dinner at Ella’s favorite steakhouse Flat Iron. It was “perfect,” even though it wasn’t fancy. We continue to go there year after year.
Despite their glamorous and busy careers, day-to-day life is surprisingly wholesome for the couple. “We love a date night, but we’ve been so busy lately,” Ella says. “So now we do Sunday roasts together, like a little married couple. It’s become our thing.”
She acknowledges, however, that the “message factor” was a factor when living together! However, she continues, “You know what, he’s such a clean freak. He’s so tidy, but I didn’t expect that from a boy. I believe I occasionally have the messy parts.
When we ask Ella if she’s easy to live with, she laughs. “Probably I annoy Lloyd when I make him help me pick Instagram pictures. I’m like, ‘Which one, babe?’ But he’s got a good eye.”
It didn’t take long before they dropped the L-bomb, she confesses. “We used to say it as a joke within two weeks, and my friends thought I was crazy. But then it just became real. I can’t even remember who said it first – it just happened.”
The couple is already contemplating their future together six months later. Ella thoughtfully observes, “We definitely see marriage and children, but not right now.” “Ella Jones sounds good, right?” We have even discussed names before, and we want three kids.
She adds that her family already has a big fan base for Lloyd after meeting up with him after watching him play football. They immediately fell in love with him, which made things so much simpler.
Between brand deals, events and travel, Ella’s work schedule is relentless, but Lloyd, she says, is her anchor. And how does he cope with the spotlight of dating a Love Island star? “He’s so chilled about it,” Ella says. “He knew about me before – and even admitted he’d had his eye on me for a while – but he didn’t approach me until that night. Playing it cool, clearly.”
Ella is confident in describing their relationship in three words when she describes it. She says, “Meant to be,” with a smile.
Source: Mirror
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