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Love Island is returning to screens after a long gap. The UK reality dating show is set to feature 10 new singles looking for love. They'll be heading to South Africa as part of the Winter show to a luxurious villa, where the filming will take place.
One of the contestants whose bags are packed is Tanya Manhenga, and she is “all for” the new rule that prohibits contestants or their family members from using the show’s stars' social media accounts.
Love Island season 9 is set to air on January 16, at 9 pm ET on ITV2.
Meet Tanya Manhenga ahead of her appearance on Love Island season 9
Love Island season 9 is set to feature 10 singletons set to find love on the ITV2 show. One of the contestants set to appear on the show is the digital creator and biomedical student Tanya Menhenga.
The 22-year-old from Liverpool has previously worked with Boohoo and Ego footwear. Tanya is a student at Manchester and has decided to put her education on hold to be able to participate in the show.
In a conversation with MailOnline, she said:
"I am definitely going to finish [my course] because I have one little term left of my degree that I’ve deferred, and that’s something that I wouldn’t just leave because I’ve dedicated time and effort to it and I’m not just going to stop because I went on Love Island."
Tanya added that even if she wasn’t going to be on the show, she would have finished her degree and done embryology. She wants to go on to work with IVF and help people with fertility issues.
She added:
"You never know what’s going to happen when you finish the show. If there are opportunities there, I will definitely take them but it will have to be something amazing for me to leave what I was doing before."
In a way, Tanya has put her life on hold to find her ideal man, who she hopes is a little bit like Dami Hope, a microbiologist and former contestant on the show.
About these former stars, Tanya told Bustle that her type is “medium handsome” men. About Dami, she said he has a nice dressing sense, while Luca would have been her type due to his “very mysterious vibe with the tattoos and stuff.”
The Love Island contestant opened up about having a skin pigmentation condition called Vitiligo. It’s on her lip and a stripe on her hair. However, she’s not going to hide it during the show. While not a lot of people know about it, she thinks it’s quite cute.
When the contestant was asked about the new rule that requires social media accounts to be dormant, she said that she wasn’t sure about it as everyone’s Twitter was “popping off” in the previous editions of the show.
She added:
"So at first, I was like, this won't be the best."
She further said that she thought about the trolls and that the rule would lessen them, in which case, she’s all for it.
Tune in on January 16 to watch as Love Island season 9 premieres on ITV2 or stream the show on ITVX.
