"It was never official." Love Island's Maurice Salib on his relationship with Christie Swadling.

When Maurice Salib entered the Love Island Australia villa, it’s safe to say some viewers were feeling a little… confused.

Upon entering the villa, the 27-year-old introduced himself as being single for six months.

But to YouTuber Christie Swadling and her viewers, it wasn’t exactly the case.

After Maurice’s debut on the reality show, Christie released a 17-minute video to her 110,000 YouTube subscribers titled, ‘My Boyfriend Dumped Me For A Dating Show’.

In the video, Christie shared that she and Maurice were, in fact, in a relationship for six months. She also said that she had “no idea” that Maurice was set to appear on the show.

Watch a snippet from Christie Swadling’s video below. Post continues after video.

“This must have been happening behind my back the whole time,” she said.

“I had no idea that he was going on the dating show.”

Now, talking to Mamamia following his departure from the Love Island villa, Maurice has shared his side of the story.

“Christie and I were essentially seeing each other, for approximately two months,” Marcus said.

“We were hanging out regularly – she’s a fantastic, cool girl. Towards the end of the two months, I felt that it wasn’t really panning out how I saw it and even though she was an incredible girl, I couldn’t see it working and I just called things off,” he added.

“Literally a week and a half afterwards, the amazing team at ITV reached out to me to invite me on [Love Island]. I understand how it could be perceived but it certainly wasn’t the case.”

 

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A post shared by MAURICE SALIB (@mauricesalib) on May 16, 2019 at 1:30pm PDT

 

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A post shared by CEE (@christieswadling) on Jul 13, 2019 at 12:43am PDT

Although Christie maintains that the pair were together for six months, Maurice said their relationship was “never official”.

“It was never labelled. It was never official,” Maurice said.

“We did spend quite a lot of time together but even after it was called off, I still spoke to her every second or third day. Our relationship was still a cool vibe. When I get back, I’m sure I’ll be chilling out with her and vibing with her,” the Sydney business owner added.

“I love her to bits and I’m a freakin’ eager beaver to have conversations with her when I get back. We weren’t allowed our phones [on the show], but as soon as we get our phones back, I’ll be reaching out to her and just organising a bite to eat.”

During her YouTube video, Christie explained that Maurice had told her that he was asked to appear in an advertisement for Love Island, but he didn’t mention appearing on the show itself.

According to Christie, Maurice ended their relationship just one week after the ad aired.

Sophie Monk shares what you need to know about this year’s Love Island on Mamamia’s daily entertainment podcast, The Spill:

“While coming on the show, I had to sign an NDA so I was really restricted with who I could share the news that I was jumping on a TV show with,” Maurice responded.

“I couldn’t share it with [Christie]. Obviously not being in a relationship, I just didn’t feel obligated to share that with her.”

Later on in the season, a newspaper titled the ‘Love Island Times’ arrived at the villa, which revealed what Christie had been saying in the outside world.

For Maurice, it was a complete shock.

“What a surprise, right?” he said.

“We had zero contact with the outside world so the only piece of information I received was the [Love Island Times]. It kind of threw me a little bit,” he added.

“It did freak me out a little bit because I never knew that was a thing – the ‘Love Island Times’. I’m grateful that Cynthia was kind enough to listen to me and to give me the benefit of the doubt.”

Since being paired up with fellow Islander Cynthia on the show, some fans have questioned whether Maurice’s feelings for the 23-year-old were genuine.

 

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A post shared by MAURICE SALIB (@mauricesalib) on Oct 18, 2019 at 3:45am PDT

“She’s such a nice girl inside and out – I love her to bits,” Maurice said of Cynthia.

“She hasn’t had a boyfriend before so it was very important to me to not lead her on. It was important to me to take things slow and she wanted the same thing as me,” he added.

“We both wanted to be with each other and to explore the depths of our relationship.”

Although he’s been voted out of the villa, Maurice is still open to hanging out with Cynthia in the outside world.

“Before I left the villa, I was having chats with Cynthia and I told her I want to meet up with her,” he said.

“It’s going to be cool – it’s going to be a completely different dynamic as well. It’s another level inside the villa. You’ve got so many cameras, your conversations are monitored, you’re being watched 24/7. I want to experience what it’s like with Cynthia in a different setting.”

What do you think about Maurice’s comments? Let us know in the comments.

Love Island Australia airs Monday to Friday on Channel Nine at 8.30pm.

For more on this topic:

• THEY’RE FINALLY HERE: Where you can find all the Love Island 2019 cast on Instagram.
• “I had no idea.” Christie found out her boyfriend Maurice was going on Love Island on Instagram.
• Limited booze and strict bedtimes: The rules Love Island Australia contestants have to follow.
• ‘I started watching Love Island for the first time last week. And I have precisely 7 questions.’
• “We were recorded for 24 hours.” Love Island’s Sam on what it’s really like behind the scenes.

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