Who is Cumbrian Love Island contestant Jacques O'Neill?

Cumbrian Jacques O'Neill has joined the cast of Love Island 2023. But what do we know about him so far?

Who is Jacques O'Neill?

Jacques O'Neill is a 23 year-old from Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria. He is a 5 foot 11 professional rugby league player who has predominantly played for the Castleford Tigers.

What does he do?

Jacques is hooker for Castleford Tigers and has been with the club after being signed to their academy from Askam ARLFC. His mother would drive him from Cumbria to Castleford, which is around two and a half hours away, twice a week for training.

O'Neill, has played for the Super League club Castleford Tigers 29 times since signing in 2019. In 2021 he was named in the England Knights' performance squad.

On 10 June Castleford Tigers said: "The Club has agreed to release Jacques O’Neill from his contract to allow him to pursue another opportunity."

The Tigers have the first option to sign O’Neill back if he wants to return next year.

What can we expect from his time in the villa?

Jacques' time in the villa is set to be interesting with his ex-girlfriend Gemma Owen also being a contestant.

He is said to have dated the daughter of famous footballer Michael Owen for around a year before calling it quits. According to Jacques, the split was due to him concentrating on rugby.

What is Jacques O'Neill's social media?

You can find Jacques on:

• Instagram: @jacques9oneill_

• Twitter:@Jacques9oneill

Where can you watch Love Island?

Love Island is on ITV2 each night at 9pm. On Sunday the show is followed by Love Island Aftersun which is a weekly discussion of what has happened. This starts at 10pm.

On Saturday's there is no new episodes of Love Island but a compilation of the week's best bits is show instead.

You can catch up on the latest episodes on ITV Hub.