There is usually a collective eyeroll when couples insist they’ve found the ‘the one’ on reality TV show Love Island.
Viewers congratulate participants politely, give the relationship six months, and then wait for the inevitable break-up announcement.
But with Love Islanders Indiyah Polack, 27, and Dami Hope, 29, who met on the show in 2022, things seemed different.
Maybe it was the slow burn. Or maybe it was the way the nation watched them lose each other, find their way back, and then choose one another again, on screen, in front of millions.
Whatever it was, their relationship felt real.
Which is why, when I saw the couple clinging to each other like newlyweds at an event they hosted two years ago, it was impossible to imagine how it could all unravel.
Rumours have abounded online for months that all is not well between Indiyah and Dami.
Indiyah Polack and Dami Hope met on the eighth season of Love Island in 2022
In the Love Island final, they were placed third, but in many viewers’ minds, they were the real winners, as their relationship thrived
Fans noticed that, on New Year’s Eve, Dami posted a series of photographs on Instagram with no sign of Indiyah. And over the weekend, fans’ worst fears were confirmed.
A video surfaced on TikTok showing Indiyah passionately kissing basketball player and video-game streamer Marlon Lundgren Garcia at glitzy London restaurant Duck & Waffle. The kiss allegedly took place on December 3.
After the kiss, Indiyah can be seen pulling back and clutching her face in visible shock as if realising her mistake and who might see it.
Fans hoped that the video was fake. But on Sunday, Indiyah posted a brief statement on Instagram: ‘I am aware of the video that has been shared online. I made a mistake and take full responsibility for my actions. I understand the hurt this has caused. I won’t be commenting further.’
Indiyah and Marlon reportedly met while filming season three of Netflix’s Inside, the British YouTuber group The Sidemen’s wildly popular reality competition show, where influencers compete to protect a £1million prize fund.
It all seems worlds away from that evening in August 2024, when I was invited to celebrate Indiyah and Dami’s collaboration with activewear brand Gymshark. The answer was an immediate yes.
Not just because it was a rare London summer evening with free drinks. But because this wasn’t just another influencer brand deal, it felt like a milestone.
Gymshark had closed its Regent Street flagship for the night. The two-storey space had been transformed into a shrine to ‘Damiyah’ – a nickname the couple earned during their Love Island days – with floor-to-ceiling images of the couple looking effortlessly cool and deeply in love.
The collection itself, graphic T-shirts launched to coincide with the Notting Hill Carnival weekend, was pitched as a celebration of individuality, culture and movement.
According to the brand at the time, ‘the collaboration brings together the creative energies of Indiyah and Dami, both known for their unique and influential sense of style, redefining how (and where) gym clothes can be worn’.
But most people weren’t there for the T-shirts.
There was a DJ, unlimited drinks, catering, a makeup counter run by cosmetics brand MAC and even dance mats where guests could compete to win Gymshark socks or water bottles. One cocktail on offer was cheekily named ‘Dangerously Damiyah’.
The guest list was stacked. Winners Josh Oyinsan, fan-favourite Ayomi Odukoya, and a who’s who of influencers were all circling the room.
When Indiyah and Dami finally arrived, the energy in the room shifted. Dressed head-to-toe in Gymshark, the couple were immediately handed drinks, microphones and attention.
They never let go of each other. Hands intertwined, pressed together, they thanked the room, Gymshark, and then most notably, each other.
After a short speech, they posed for photos, kissed on cue, laughed between shots and then worked the room like pros: dancing, mingling and competing on the dance mats – but always within arm’s reach of one another.
At one point, Dami was pouring shots into Indiyah’s mouth.
For anyone who had watched their story unfold on television two summers earlier, it felt like confirmation that this was the real deal and indeed, that Love Island really could produce happy couples.
Dami and Indiyah didn’t initially couple up, they formed a friendship – but halfway through the season, their relationship tipped into romance
A video surfaced on TikTok showing Indiyah passionately kissing basketball player and video-game streamer Marlon Lundgren Garcia at glitzy London restaurant Duck & Waffle
Indiyah and Dami first met around the fire pit during season eight of Love Island in 2022. Though they didn’t initially couple up, they formed a friendship.
Halfway through the season, their relationship tipped into romance. On their first proper date, champagne in a fairy-lit garden, Dami asked what Indiyah wanted from the future, her answer felt refreshingly grounded: she wanted fun, respect, family values and someone who could match her energy.
Dami, in turn, said he wanted someone ‘genuine, honest, kind someone who always chooses me’.
‘I’m scared,’ he admitted. ‘This is too perfect. Almost too good to be true. All roads lead to Indiyah and I am driving.’
Dami asked Indiyah to be his girlfriend in the middle of a fiesta on the show and in her final leaving speech, Indiyah confirmed again: ‘To always choosing each other, always.’
In hindsight, the moment now feels painfully ironic.
In the final, they were placed third, but in many viewers’ minds, they were the real winners, as their relationship thrived.
They moved in together later that year, settling into a London flat and spending their first Christmas side by side.
There were holidays, red carpet appearances, joint brand deals with TK Maxx, music videos, and carefully curated Instagram posts documenting a life that looked full, fun and very much shared.
Last year, they celebrated three years together.
Indiyah’s anniversary post read like a love letter: ‘Where is time going? It feels like only yesterday we met. You’ve brought me so much love and laughter. There’s no one else I’d rather do life with.’
Dami replied: ‘A life with you is an incredible one. Here’s to infinity.’
Meanwhile Indiyah was going from strength to strength in her own career, becoming a regular presenter on Capital Xtra and a host at the Music of Black Origin Awards, while Dami secured deals with ASOS, Google and Ray-Ban, and launched his own clothing brand, SnowBunny.
They weren’t just surviving post-Love Island, they were triumphant.
Which is why the end, when it came, has felt so brutal for many. Dami has been met with an outpouring of sympathy, while Indiyah faces relentless criticism.
Under Dami’s most recent Instagram post, one comment reads: ‘No man will ever take her seriously again.’
Another under Indiyah’s says: ‘You seriously disappointed me. Dami deserved better.’
Elsewhere, fans mourn the loss of hope itself. ‘If they can’t make it, none of us can,’ one wrote.
The final digital nail in the coffin came quietly just yesterday: Dami unfollowed Indiyah on Instagram.
And just like that, the couple we all believed in became another Love Island cautionary tale – only this one seems to have hurt people more than ever.
