Who is Eyal Booker? Meet the Love Island contestant, model and former boyband star
The 22-year-old model once fronted a pop band called EverYoung
22-year-old Eyal Booker's Instagram describes him as a "wannabe presenter" – which would suggest that the male model is out for more than just romance in the Love Island villa.
He's got a decent pedigree behind him – he attended London's Sylvia Young Theatre School, which has cultivated such talents as Amy Winehouse, Rita Ora and, perhaps closer to Eyal's Wheelhouse, Busted's Matt Willis and McFly's Tom Fletcher.
He claims to have already had a taste of the good life in his short-lived days as a pop star with band EverYoung, during which he says he experienced "fangirl hysteria".
Check out the video for their song Icy Blue below, which finds him and his bandmates in a field singing about endless love at the age of 18. In fairness, it's nowhere near as bad as it could be.
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Despite signing to record label Seymour Place Music (a subsidiary of EMI), the group never really took off – hence Eyal's decision to pursue other avenues of fame.
The 22-year-old model has a number of exes. "There's been a mixture of flings from a couple of weeks to six-eight months."
He says he avoids one night stands and that most of his former conquests would "speak highly of me", but he doesn't sound averse to cheating: "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."
Eyal says he's looking for a long-lasting relationship. Perhaps we won't tell him about last year's short-lived couples...
He also reckons that his personality, his curly hair and his body are his strongest attributes, and admits that he's a bit worried that his parents, his sister and his gran might see something "they don't necessarily want to see" during his time on the show.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press in Mallorca before going into the villa, Eyal said: "I watched a little bit of [Love Island]. I’ve never watched the whole season throughout so there’s an element that I really don’t know what I’m getting myself into.
"But again, I love that – I love being thrown in the deep end and I’m either going to sink or swim and I don’t know as much as any of us."
He also liked to think of himself as a gentleman."And chivalry isn’t dead…just yet," he added with a cheeky smile.
What is Eyal looking for in a girl?
Apparently potential Love Islanders might woo him by "captivating me and enticing me with both their mind and what they look like and just being a great person."
And what turns him off? "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".
As for his own bad habits, we're a bit worried Eyal might be a "preacher", based entirely on how many times he says the word "preach" in this sentence:
"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."
Who is Eyal Booker? Key facts:
Coupled up with: Hayley Hughes
Age: 22
Job: Model
Location: London
Instagram: @EyalBooker
Love Island airs at 9pm on ITV2
