New Idea caught up with Love Island 2022 winners Austen and Claudia on how they feel about winning the show last night, if they are still together and all the gossip from the villa.
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How did you feel when they announced your names as winners of Love Island 2022?
Austen: “Honestly no I wasn’t. When it’s pre-recorded you do see a lot of lovely comments from people and see how people have taken us I guess but even last night you’re still on edge, you’re still unsure.”
Claudia: “I definitely did not know what was going to happen. You just don’t think it’s going to be you and when we were told it was us we were like ‘did we actually just win?’. We just don’t believe it. We found love and we won.
Did you watch the finale together and how did you celebrate?
Claudia: “We watched the finale at Austen’s family house with all of his family and friends which was really sweet and we had my family on facetime.”
The question everyone want’s to know is, are you still together?
Austen: “Me and Claudia are officially boyfriend and girlfriend now, yeah still together and still in love.”
Claudia: “It’s been really good, better on the outside than in the villa.”
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How did you guys make it official?
Claudia: “Firstly we wanted to meet each other’s families and we ticked that off and as soon as I met his family and he bought me one of those pop statue things. He told me a little spiel and asked me to be his girlfriend and it was really, really cute.”
What has been happening since the show finished? Was it difficult not to be seen out in public?
Austen: “You have no idea!”
Claudia: “especially not telling people like I wanted to boast to people about my amazing boyfriend.”
Austen: “It was very hard, but saying that, we did very well with what we have.”
What do you think it is that makes you guys work so well as a couple?
Austen: “We have a lot of similarities, we have a lot of common interests. I think emotionally we are different but in the best way possible, we just balance out so well.”
Claudia: “Communicate and compromise, I didn’t actually know the definition before I met Austen.”
If you could start your Love Island journey again, would you do anything differently?
Austen: “No. I think the way it panned out worked perfectly.”
Claudia: “No, don’t fix something that isn’t broken.”
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As the show was pre-recorded, how did you find it watching it at the same time as everyone else?
Claudia: “It’s amazing that we get to show people in the future like this is how we fell in love. I mean you do feel all of the emotions that happen on screen, it is emotionally hard but it’s also amazing to watch.”
What does the future look like for you guys? Have you talked about moving in together and getting married?
Austen: “The plan is for me to go to Adelaide and spend some time there for a little bit and then hopefully migrate back to Sydney, live together in Sydney and see where it takes us both.”
Both Claudia and Austen also gave a big thank you to their friends and families for their continued support.
