What happened to Love Island winners Sammy Root and Jess Harding? Their split explained

Love Island winner Sammy Root is set to enter the Love Island All Stars villa as a bombshell, so here is a recap on what went down with him and 2023 winner Jess Harding.

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Love Island All Stars has two new bombshells entering the villa – Sammy Root and Danielle Sellers.

Fans can’t stop talking about Sammy in particular, who won series 10 of the ITV show back in 2023 with then-girlfriend Jess Harding.

So, why did Sammy and Jess split just months after winning Love Island? Here’s everything they have said about each other since the break up and the real reason for the split.

Jess Harding and Sammy Root split a couple of months after winning. Picture: Getty

Why did Jess and Sammy split after Love Island?

A mere couple of months after they won series 10 and £50k from Love Island in 2023, Sammy and Jess shared that they had broken up.

Taking to Instagram to address this split, Sammy wrote: “I thought I would come online to address today’s news about me and Jess.

“Yes we had a private conversation regarding our relationship but this was left up in the air as Jess is still away and we haven’t had a chance to speak in person.

To be totally clear – I at least wanted a face-to-face conversation to see if our relationship could be saved and felt this would be the respectful way forward.”

We had the most incredible experience winning Love Island and I genuinely saw a future with Jess. I was committed and respectful of our relationship.

Sammy is entering with bombshell Danielle. Picture: ITV
Sammy is back for All Stars. Picture: ITV

Meanwhile, Jess kept quiet about the split, and told fans during an Instagram Q&A that: “I really don’t want to go into detail by doing a big statement but we’re just very different and behave differently and that’s it.”

Since splitting from Sammy, Jess has found love with a new man, who features on her social media.

With Sammy set to enter the villa for round two, he said: “hopefully this time round, I’ll leave with a relationship that goes the distance.”