How stunning Maura Higgins became TV’s top heartbreaker after romances with Strictly star, Prem striker & Hollywood hunk
And the three characteristics the Love Island star has that makes men fall at her feet
SHE’S the absolutely beautiful brunette who seems to have all the most eligible bachelors falling at her feet.
In fact, Maura Higgins is currently linked to TWO Strictly Come Dancing stars – having been seen getting very cosy with both Pete Wicks and Kai Widdrington at the Pride of Britain Awards.
The two celeb men are not the first to fall over themselves trying to get close to former Love Island star Maura, as she’s been linked to a string of good-looking men, from a Premier League star to even a Hollywood hunk.
But what makes her such a catch?
Psychologist and relationship expert Jo Hemmings reveals: “Maura has three key characteristics that make her consistently desirable to men.
“She’s beautiful, of course, but she also has a rare chameleon-like quality, where she can change her look – whether it’s a Hollywood hyper-glam style and short bob or a casual jeans and tee combo and still look stunning and authentic.”
Jo continues: “She has self-deprecation by the lorry load.
“She can poke fun at herself and not take herself too seriously, however successful she becomes.
“Just look at how she laughed off the rumours of her and Pete, wearing a T-shirt saying ‘We can’t be friends’!
“She also has power – she is tenacious, determined and successful, managing to bag the Love Island USA presenting job, as well as Selling Sunset star Christine Quinn’s publicist – and yet none of that makes her seem self-important or arrogant.
“She still retains an important element of ‘Maura from Love Island’.”
We reveal the men who have fallen for Maura’s charm…
James Finnegan
Before she shot to fame on Love Island in 2019, Maura was engaged to Irish car salesman James Finnegan.
The two met in school as teens and dated for nine years, with him popping the question in 2013, when Maura was 23.
But the childhood sweethearts called off their engagement four years later, as her modelling career took off – and James was left heartbroken.
A source told The Sun: “She stayed with James as she got bigger and better at modelling and she did try to make it work.
“James was her first love and her anchor for a while but their relationship was bound to suffer as she travelled more and followed her dreams.
“He didn’t want to split and was left drowning his sorrows.”
Curtis Pritchard
After entering the Love Island villa in 2019, Maura was never short of male attention.
But it was Curtis Pritchard who she was drawn to, and ended up in fifth place with him.
They stayed together for eight months after the show, but it wasn’t to be.
At first, their split seemed amicable, but after photos emerged of Curtis kissing dancer Amber Pierson, Maura seemed to be angry.
She told Fabulous: “Everything happens for a reason and, to be honest, I wish him all the best. I’m in a good place now. It’s not nice to see, but I’m fine.”
She continued: “It’s kind of a kick in the teeth that I’ve been cheated on by my last two boyfriends, but I will be stronger for this.”
She also tweeted, “The truth always comes out in the end.”
Curtis has always denied cheating.
Instead, he was left “betrayed” by the next relationship Maura had…
Chris Taylor
Maura and Chris Taylor became close friends after appearing on Love Island together, but they announced it had become more than that in November 2020.
Curtis was left fuming, claiming he’d been “stabbed in the back”.
He told The Sun at the time: “I feel betrayed by them both — two people I was very close to.
“When I saw the pictures, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel hurt. I was upset. How long has this truly been going on for?
“At the time I was accused of cheating, but I never did. I was always faithful to Maura.
“If you look back on everything — and I am looking back on it now — I’m like, ‘Curtis, all the signs were bloomin’ there, why didn’t you realise then?’
“You just don’t when you are in that situation. You trust what they say. Now her true colours are shown.
“They said they would never ever be together, and here they are.”
Just four months later, Chris and Maura split.
And Chris opened up on their relationship as he appeared on Celebs Go Dating earlier this year.
He said: “I became friends with Maura, and then… yeah, like, we were mates for ages, and then it kind of progressed into other things.”
Revealing he loved her, Chris added he didn’t believe the feelings were reciprocated.
“It sounds very painful,” said dating expert Anna Williamson, to which Chris replied: “It was.”
Giovanni Pernice
Just two months after she split from Chris, Maura got together with axed Strictly star Giovanni Pernice.
The couple teased their romance for weeks before finally going public with a loved up picture on Maura’s Instagram captioned “I’m yours” in July 2021.
They were also pictured out together in Blackpool and Maura attended the launch night of his show.
It all seemed to be going so well, as Maura and Giovanni opted to move in together to make seeing each other around his hectic Strictly schedule easier.
Timeline of Giovanni Pernice's dating history
Giovanni is loved up with Molly Brown now, but has dated many high profile beauties:
Giovanni Pernice split from fellow pro dancer Jowita Przystal in March 2023.
Pals revealed how the pair chose to end their relationship after falling for one another during the 2022 series of the Strictly.
Giovanni secretly dated Love Island star Maura Higgins for weeks before going public in July 2021.
But the pair called time on their romance four months later.
Giovanni also enjoyed a romance with Pussycat Dolls star Ashley Roberts.
They met after she took part in Strictly back in 2018.
Giovanni met Jessica Wright through her brother Mark Wright when he was on Strictly in 2017.
But after posting a series of loved up snaps on social media, they parted ways six months later.
Giovanni started dating Georgia May Foote in 2015 after they were paired together on Strictly Come Dancing.
But they split wight months later.
A source even claimed Gio had “never felt like this about anyone before”.
But things appeared to quickly turn sour, with Giovanni ending their relationship just four months later, leaving Maura “blind-sided”.
Their split came after heart-to-heart talks, during which the dancer admitted he “isn’t ready to settle down”.
A source told The Sun at the time: “It’s all over for now. Maura’s absolutely devastated, it appears the Strictly curse has struck again.
“Maura didn’t see this coming and is finding it very difficult to come to terms with. She genuinely thought Gio was the one.”
Maura removed all pictures of him from social media after their split.
Connor Wickham
In June 2022, Maura started seeing former Premier League striker Connor Wickham after being introduced by friends.
The two quietly dated for a number of weeks, and even enjoyed a holiday to Paris together.
But it was over a month later.
Asked in an online Q&A if she was single, Maura replied: “This question just never stops coming up.
“Yes I’m single. I’m very single. I couldn’t be more f***ing single.
“I may as well just go into Love Island again.”
Bobby Holland Hanton
Maura was first linked to Chris Hemsworth’s body double Bobby Holland Hanton in May 2023.
Unlike with her previous relationships, the pair tried to keep their relationship out of the public eye.
But Maura confirmed they were dating on the RTE Late Late Show at the end of 2023, telling host Patrick Kielty she was in a “happy relationship”.
But in March 2024, Mauran broke it off, as she realised there was no future for them as a couple.
A source told The Sun: “It was really fun for a while.
“But they’re different people. It’s over between them.”
The couple also unfollowed each other on Instagram.
Kai Widdrington
Maura was spotted getting very cosy with Strictly pro Kai at a Pride of Britain Awards afterparty on Monday.
According to the Mirror, Kai was seen placing his hand on Maura’s arm while planting a kiss on the back of her head from behind.
Onlookers also apparently witnessed Maura tickling Kai’s nose before twirling her around.
And it may very well be the Hollywood makeover Maura was given for the awards ceremony that caught Kai’s eye.
One of the thousands of people who liked the Irish beauty’s Instagram post of her look from the awards ceremony was Kai.
Pete Wicks
Meanwhile, at another boozy celeb party, following the awards, Maura and former TOWIE star Pete were also seen snogging – despite continuously insisting they’re “just friends”.
The said a fan saw Maura “planting a kiss on Pete’s nose before the pair kissed on the lips”.
A few weeks before, the pair were seen “all over each other”, when Maura joined Pete and his Strictly co-stars in a pub.
An onlooker told The Sun: “They were chatting to Pete’s co-star Wynne Evans and it was very clear they were more than just friends.
“Things have clearly turned romantic as they were all over each other.
“At one point she ran her hands through his hair under his hat, and they were cuddling loads too.
“They looked really cosy and comfortable with each other.”
The couple first set tongues wagging after they were pictured snogging in public in the summer.
Last month, Maura poked fun at the reports on their relationship status, in a cheeky photo with Pete’s best mate Sam Thompson.
In the photo, Maura is wearing a T-shirt with The Sun’s exclusive photo of her kissing Pete, along with the words “we can’t be friends” printed on to it.
She also took to TikTok to share a video of her and Pete practising some Strictly dance moves together.
Speaking on Olivia Attwood’s So Right It’s Wrong podcast this week, Pete was very coy about his and Maura’s relationship.
He said: “She is lovely, me and Maura have known each other for a very long time.
“I think Maura is great and we get on really well and we have done for a very long time.”