Love Island: Meet Eyal Booker, this year’s Jewish contestant!
The 22-year-old former JFS pupil from Bushey, who is a former singer and model, brings romance to ITV2's reality show
Francine Wolfisz is the Features Editor for Jewish News.
He’s got the moves, he’s got the looks – and now Eyal Booker hopes to bring a touch of kosher romance to ITV2’s new series of Love Island, which hits our screens next Monday.
Eyal, 22, from Bushey, Hertfordshire, is a former JFS pupil and studied part-time at the Sylvia Young Theatre School, before later joining a pop band, EverYoung, from 2011 to 2015.
Today, Eyal is a model signed to Full Circle Management and based in Cape Town.
His Instagram snaps have earned him an impressive 55,000 followers.
Here Eyal gives the lowdown on becoming one of this year’s 11 Love Island contestants:
How important will friendship be to you in the villa?
Friendship comes with time and is a huge thing to me. I don’t think you can really establish a friendship from the get go but I’d like to make some great guy friends in the villa. I would preferably not like to go against them, but at the end of the day this is about finding love.
Have you got any worries ahead of going into the villa?
Not really. I’m a bit nervous but I think anyone would be! My parents, my sister and my Gran might see something that they don’t necessarily want to see. Besides that, I’m excited.
Have you got any claims to fame?
Not really. I was in a pop band once called EverYoung. We had small time success and toured the country, built up a little fan base and there was fan girl hysteria. They’d follow us around and come to our gigs and stuff so that was a little taste.
What are your thoughts on cheating?
My thoughts on cheating are that it’s not really okay, but when you’re young and finding out about life and your relationships might not mean as much as when you’re older, as long as you’re honest and stay true to yourself then I think everyone deserves a second chance.
If a Love Islander could woo you, what is the best way to your heart?
By captivating me and enticing me with both their mind and what they look like and just being a great person who has good morals and values and who wants to have a lot of life experiences as opposed to materialistic things. My ideal date would be going for a nice dinner, sitting and talking and finding out about this person. Family is a big thing to me so I’d want to know about them, their family, what they stand for, what they like to do and hopefully find a connection through conversation.
What do you find the biggest turn off in a girl?
I try and be a gentleman and I always try and do the gentlemanly things but I like it to be acknowledged because I think that shows a respectful person.
What has been the most disastrous date you’ve ever been on?
I’ve been on some Tinder dates that have been pretty awful because the girls’ picture wouldn’t really show the girl and then you wouldn’t have anything in common because you didn’t meet naturally through life itself so i t can be a bit awkward.
What makes you stand out from everyone else?
I have a fun energy and I am a spiritual person. I’d like to think I have a depth to me so I guess that stands out and I look at things quite deeply.
What are you looking for in the villa?
I’m looking for love! I have had quite a few relationships in my time, none have ever lasted that long and now I’m at a point where I’d actually like to find one that can last.
What are your best attributes?
My personality and then we can’t ignore the fact I have curly hair and people seem to like that. I train pretty hard so I’ve got a decent body . Hopefully I’m just a funny person that people like.
Any bad habits or things people might find less likeable about you?
I think that people might assume that I’m trying to preach but I’m not a preacher and I don’t want to be a preacher I just feel like I’ve got an opinion and I feel like my opinion matters and I’m going to share that with people.
Tell us about your relationship history…
I’ve had quite a few exes in my time, there’s been a mixture of flings from a couple of weeks to six to eight months. I try to stay away from one night stands. I’d like to think they’d all speak highly of me because we all, bar a few, ended on good terms.
- Love Island starts June 4 on ITV2 at 9pm.
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