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I was on Love Island and auditioned for All Stars – here’s why I’m glad I DIDN’T make it on
The former contestant had just come out of a relationship when producers asked her to audition
A LOVE Island bombshell who auditioned for a second shot at a villa romance after splitting from her partner has revealed she's glad she didn't make it onto the All Stars show.
Dr Priya Gopaldas, 26, enjoyed a week-long stint in the Majorcan villa back in 2021 where she had a brief fling with model Brett Staniland.
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When show bosses reached out to her last year and invited her to audition for the inaugural All Stars series, the hospital doctor thought it could be fate having just come out of a relationship.
She went through Zoom interviews and even met with producers in a studio before learning she wasn't part of the line-up.
But after seeing who has gone into the South African compound so far, she doesn't feel she's missing out.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, she said: "It didn't happen, and I think it would have been quite tough to interrupt my career again.
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"Obviously, for the show, I had to take a whole year off medical school, initially, and I don't know how likely it would have been that I would have been able to get time off."
She added with a smile: "Also, now, in retrospect, having seen the line-up, I think everything happens for a reason and I don't think I'd have fit into the villa this time around."
Explaining how the approach from producers unfolded, Priya said it all happened very quickly.
First there were Zoom calls, then a psychological assessment and finally a studio interview with producers.
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She said: "They they called me up and asked me if I was single, and it felt like a coincidence, because my boyfriend and I had broken up like a week before, and he moved over to the States, and long distance didn't really work, and so it felt like it was meant to happen.
"Obviously things were still fresh, but I didn't say no and so went through just a few interviews.
"That was essentially how it happened. It was very quick.
"It was all within a few weeks where they contacted me and got me into studios for an interview."
While she has credited the programme with improving the diversity of its casting, she believes more work needs to be done and a large minority is being underrepresented.
Priya said: "I think the show has become more diverse, but I don't think that the diversity is appropriate.
"So in terms of when you look at what the UK population, it's mostly made up of Caucasian, you have then Indian and South Asian, who actually make up the second largest proportion of the UK population, and the fact that there isn't South Asian representation so far on this season is disappointing.
"And I definitely think that they could have more appropriate diversity."
The winner of last year's winter series, Sanam Harrinanan, has Indian heritage and Ruchee Gurung, an original contestant in the following season 10, was born and raised in Nepal.
The former's ongoing love story with Kai Fagan rules her out of this series while it remains to be seen if Ruchee will reappear as a bombshell.
For Priya, she is now focused on her work in hospital and running the London Marathon in April.
She also has a collaboration with a big fitness brand in the works, too.
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So it looks like she's doing just fine without any villa drama.
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