Although most of this year's Love Island contestants are entering the villa as relative unknowns (not including Dani Dyer), there is one islander who's already appeared in a Hollywood blockbuster: Samira Mighty. The 22-year-old professional dancer starred in 2017's live-action version of Beauty and the Beast.
Well, sort of. You won’t actually be able to spot her face on camera, but RadioTimes.com can confirm that she appears as a background dancer in the final ballroom sequence. And that means she was in the same scene as Emma Watson, Emma Thompson, Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen and Dan Stevens! That’s massive, right?
Okay, sure, blink and you'll miss her (in fact, keep your eyelids propped open with matchsticks and you'll probably miss her) but still, it's a Hollywood movie – have you been in a Hollywood movie? No.
Not that Samira is boasting about it: when asked what her claim to fame was, the islander only listed the stage projects she had been involved in (Dreamgirls and Mamma Mia at the West End) – Beauty and the Beast wasn’t mentioned. Nor was her other screen appearance on ITV’s celeb singing contest All Star Musicals with Freddie Flintoff.
So, her links with celebs might not be the strongest, but if Marcel from last year taught us anything, it’s that in the villa there’s no shame in extending your 15-minutes of fame (even if, as in Samira's case, it's more like 15 seconds).
Love Island begins on Monday 4th June at 9pm on ITV2
