Ex-Love Island contestant Lucie Donlan on 'absolutely amazing' changes to villa this series

  • Eli-Louise Wringe catches up with Lucie Donlan from the ITV West Country Studio

Ex-Love Island contestant Lucie Donlan praises the changes to the latest Love Island series, including its environmentally conscious fashion focus.

When asked what she thought of the eco-friendly initiatives implemented for the show this year, Lucie said: "absolutely amazing, I think its a massive foot in the right direction, they've partnered up with recycled and pre-loved clothing. I mean you can't get better than that.

"It's encouraging more of the younger generation to shop second hand which is so much better for the environment."

The Cornish born and raised TV star spoke to ITV News West Country about her environmentally focussed influencer activity on World Oceans Day (8 June).

Lucie grew up as a surfer in Cornwall and now uses her profile as a social media influencer to raise awareness for environmental issues.

"Growing up and living here in Cornwall and being 24 now I've seen so many more plastics on our beaches and I think we need to do more to protect our oceans and the animals that live in it," she said.

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Speaking from Poldhu Beach in Cornwall - just after a beach clean - Lucie told ITV News: "today we found fishing nets, plastic bottles, and a lot of cigarette butts. If you're heading down to the beach and you live in Cornwall, even doing a five minute beach clean really helps.

"I want to protect where I live as I love it so much, and I just think, I've got such a big platform, I've got 1.7m followers on Instagram and all I want to do is promote the younger generation how important our oceans are and I'm trying to promote more charities to donate and just help where you can."

When asked about the latest series, the 2019 Love Islander said: "I've been watching Love Island this series. I was a big fan of it before I went on it.

"I think it's too early to even say yet. I think they've had two days in there and I want to see some personalities come through."