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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Tom Herbert

Who is Anna Vakili on Love Island 2019? Meet the Instagram star dubbed the 'British Kim Kardashian'

Love Island has finally introduced us to the latest bunch of contestants looking for love in the villa.

Among the 12-strong crew of hopefuls for the show's fifth series is 28-year-old pharmacist Anna Vakili.

Already Insta-famous, Anna has been dubbed the "British Kim Kardashian" and also has a masters degree to her name.

Here's everything you need to know about Anna Vakili.

Who is Anna Vakili?

Insta-famous: Anna Vakili has a huge following on social media (ITV)

Pharmacist Anna is already something of an Instagram celebrity thanks to partying it up with her sister and two Iranian footballers earlier this year.

The pair were "away in Qater with two Iranian footballers who have a huge following," she said.

“I ended up on the Iranian News earlier this year [because of it],” and added. “Suddenly my followers went up by 20,000 and I started being tagged in fan pages.”

And the 28-year-old’s popularity shows, having racked up over 39,000 followers on Instagram.

Describing herself as "different to anyone who has been on the show before," Vakili is rumoured to be this series' answer to the lack of body diversity on Love Island.

However, she's found herself at the centre of a media storm after Jameela Jamil accused show bosses of casting her as the "new token 'plus-size' contestant.

Alongside pictures of Vakili, Jamil tweeted: “The producers of Love Island think this slim woman counts as their new token ‘plus size’ contestant? Are they drunk?”

But former islander Kady McDermott criticised Jamil for singling out the pharmacist and accused her of double standards.

In describing herself as different from the other contestants, Vakili said: "I have the whole glam look, I’m fun but at the same time I feel like I have more to me than that.

"I studied hard and I’ve got my masters. I’m a pharmacist and I have a Middle Eastern background."

A self-proclaimed "eight out of ten," Vakili has admitted to being both clumsy and a messy eater, with a propensity to spill her drinks "all the time".

She's also revealed that she had a rather embarrassing meeting with previous Islander Kem Cetinay in Dubai last year, after she fell over in front of him and his "hot cousin".

Vakili, who also has a sister called Mandi who's been rumoured to enter the villa later in the series, says her best personality traits are kindness, honesty and that she's emotional.

Honest: The pharmacist says she tells it how it is (ITV)

She said: "I’m honest and I say it how it is to people and to their face. I’m affectionate, I love hugs and kisses, especially with a guy.

"But I’m difficult to handle, I’m a drama queen and I overreact."

In terms of men, she is looking is looking for a Tom Hardy lookalike - but they can't have bad hygiene.

“Personality wise, he would be loyal, kind and emotional,” she said. “I like the soppy guys. I’m not into cocky boys at all, I like smart and funny," she said.

"I can’t stand it if a guy smells,. And also I don’t like guys who will just go for anyone."

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