Last year, Sanam Harrinanan and Kai Fagan made history when they won the winter series of Love Island.
The first non-white couple and Casa Amor bombshell to take first place, they won by a landslide, receiving a massive 44 per cent of viewers’ votes and taking home the £50,000 prize fund.
However, 20 months after their historic win, the couple revealed they haven’t fallen for the trappings of fame, having returned to their day jobs and turned down big brand deals.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Sanam and Kai, both 26, explained why they chose to return to their jobs as social workers and physical education teachers respectively.
Sanam shared: ‘I went to college for five years to do something I am very passionate about.
‘I didn’t feel good giving up what I had learned, what I was passionate about. Plus, knowing that you are making a difference in the lives of many young children and foster parents is a huge feeling of satisfaction.
‘I love my job and it doesn’t feel right to give up everything when I work so hard. I wasn’t willing to give up.
Last year, Sanam Harrinanan and Kai Fagan made history when they won Love Island. However, 20 months after their historic victory, the couple have not fallen into the traps of fame.
Sanam added: “There’s a perception that if you go on Love Island and then go back to work, you haven’t been successful, but that’s not really the case with us because we both feel very strongly about our careers and our passions. “It’s about live the best of both worlds.
‘I’m really grateful for the opportunities and experiences Love Island has given us, but also for waking up every morning and feeling like you’re really having an impact in some way.
‘We both work directly with children and the fact that we can do so makes us feel like we are making a difference in our world. That’s what’s important to me.”
Kai revealed that he felt the same way about teaching and explained: ‘I really enjoyed it and even before I went to the villa and did all the interviews and discussed my work. I was always adamant that I really like teaching.
‘I wasn’t on the program to change careers. I was going there for the experience and the opportunity to meet someone.
‘You go out and you have all these opportunities. The opportunities continue to be amazing. But what I really wanted to do is get back into education in some way.
‘Working in education is something that made me happy: talking to students, helping them and guiding them in their lives.
‘Having a direct impact and knowing that every day you wake up and look at someone and think, I’m actually making a small difference here.
‘That’s what gets me up in the morning. “That’s what makes me happy.”
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Sanam and Kai, both 26, explained why they chose to return to their jobs as a social worker and physical education teacher respectively.
While Kai insisted he would return to teaching, he admitted he was “anxious” to get back into the classroom after his students saw him on the show.
While Kai insisted he would return to teaching, he admitted he was “anxious” to get back into the classroom after his students saw him on the show.
He explained: “At first I was very afraid.” Because obviously, when you go on a show as big as Love Island, everyone already has a perception of you.
“You don’t really get a chance to make a first impression because everyone already has an impression.” Luckily for me, the first impression they already had of me was quite positive.
‘The students loved it. Now I go to my classroom and the students don’t really talk to me about Love Island, they talk to me about my life.
“They ask me about the people I’ve met and the experiences I’ve had and they are very excited because they now have access through me to things they enjoy.”
Sanam revealed that her reception at work has also been positive, sharing: “I guess nothing has really changed, even when I met the youngsters and some of their parents who would have seen it when I was around.”
‘One thing I was very, very aware of when I went on the show was how it was going to portray me. I wasn’t going to be someone I’m not.
“I was very conscious of just being a social worker, so Naturally, I was conscious of how I portrayed myself because I want to be a role model for other people. That’s not just in work, but in life as well.
“I use my time on Love Island in my work with the young people I work with, in terms of talking about how to handle different situations.”
Kai shared: “I’ll happily go shopping at Primark.” I’ll wear a £10 t-shirt and still feel a million pounds inside. As long as I look smart, clean and tidy, I don’t care. Materialism no longer matters to me
Kai and Sanam bucked the trend of Love Island winners returning to their day jobs, with many others choosing to work as influencers.
Their series was the first in which ITV implemented a social media ban for the islanders, who had to leave their Instagrams dormant until they left the villa.
This was done to prevent trolling and protect family members who normally manage the islanders’ accounts.
However, in turn, it also meant that islanders received fewer followers and therefore became less valuable to brands seeking publicity.
Despite this, Kai and Sanam revealed that they have rejected several agreements.
Kai explained: “There was a fashion one that I turned down because the requirements were too many, but it was basically going to take over all my social media, so it wasn’t going to be me.”
“You had to like posts three times a week, make reels, basically just generate the concept of this fashion brand.
“With the amount of content I would have to create, I wouldn’t be able to be myself on my own platform.”
Kai and Sanam bucked the trend of Love Island winners returning to their day jobs, with many others choosing to work as influencers.
Sanam agreed: “I would rather work with a brand for a lower salary and be 100 percent myself than getting a six-figure deal and having to be a little unhappy about it.
The couple were also lucky enough to have the £50,000 prize fund to help them, with the islanders having to quit their jobs to commit to the potential months’ stay in the villa.
Kai shared: ‘When you leave Love Island you don’t have a job, andYou don’t have any offers. You’ve spent 10 weeks on a program where you earn £300 a week. I was just paying my bills.
‘It’s less than the salary you would receive and you are not guaranteed income for a while after leaving. Then, when you get a job, those payments can also take two to three months.
“But we were comfortable, when we came off the show, we got the prize money pretty quickly, so we weren’t stressed or worried about anything that was really good.”
The duo also weren’t tempted to splurge on their new money, instead using it to help them buy a place together. The couple also donated a considerable amount to charities.
“Since winning Love Island I haven’t bought anything extravagant or expensive,” Kai shared. “I haven’t bought designer clothes or anything like that.
‘It’s crazy because when I was younger I used to be quite materialistic. I would go out and spend £500 on a t-shirt. But as I get older, I’ll happily go shopping at Primark.
“I’ll wear a £10 t-shirt and still feel like a million pounds inside. As long as it looks smart, clean and tidy, I don’t care.” Materialism no longer matters to me.”
Sanam added: ‘I have always been a saver. The money we had was helpful for Kai and I to move in together. It was also for my family and to support my mother.
‘I’m very similar to Kai, I don’t do designer things. “I have nothing against it, but if I buy things, the prices are within those on the street.”