Love Island winners Amber and Greg touch down in the UK with co-stars

Love Island winners Amber Gill and Greg O’Shea have touched down in the UK after scooping the £50,000 prize.

The couple were greeted by a crowd of around 120 family members and friends as well as press as they arrived at Stansted Airport.

Amber and Greg were joined by their fellow finalists Molly-Mae Hague, Tommy Fury, India Reynolds, Ovie Soko, Maura Higgins and Curtis Pritchard, all of whom were in good spirits as they prepared to return home.

Amber’s family huddled with fellow champion Greg’s childhood friends, who waved an Irish flag and chanted the rugby player’s name.

Her relatives cheered as the tearful beauty therapist ran towards them after emerging from the international arrivals gate.

Runner-up Molly-Mae’s family wore t-shirts emblazoned with the her face and the words “Team Molly-Mae”.

Meanwhile, Ovie’s family opted for bucket hats, cheering the basketball player’s catchphrase, “message”, which he became known for shouting whenever the islanders received a text during their time in the villa.

Maura’s mother and father waited wearing t-shirts that read “#fannyflutters”, in reference to one the Irish grid girl’s most memorable catchphrases.

Before the Love Island stars arrived, Amber’s best friend said that she knew Amber would win the series.

Talking to PA ahead of Amber’s arrival, Brogan Wilkin said of her friend’s win: “It was mad, like, but I had a feeling… I took her to the audition in Manchester, but as soon as we were going I was like ‘you are going to win’. She’s just got that personality. She’s just the best, honestly.”

Greg’s cousin Kelvin Brown said that he is not surprised that Greg won the series, and has given Amber his seal of approval.

He told PA: “I wouldn’t say I was shocked, because actually I backed him the week before, he came across so well, that’s it. He came across like he is outside the villa, he’s a normal guy and a gent, that’s how he he is.”

Of Amber, he said: “You can see they were easily compatible, Amber’s a great girl and Greg’s just a chilled guy and he came in at the right time, obviously.

“She seems to be very easygoing and very easy to get on with, and you can see that when the parents came in, so I’m looking forward to seeing her in Limerick.”

More than 3.6 million people tuned in to watch the couple named the surprise winners of Love Island on Monday night, ITV said.

A further 400,000 fans streamed the episode on non-TV devices such as phones and tablets.

The climax of the ITV2 dating series was watched by 3.63 million, up slightly from the 3.56 million who tuned in to watch Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham win last year.

This made it the most watched Love Island final ever and the most watched episode of the series, which has been a ratings triumph for the youth-skewing channel.

They are the first winning pair who have not been together for the majority of the series.

Greg only entered the villa in the July 16 episode as the very last bombshell of the two-month series.

Prior to that, Amber had been involved with Michael Griffiths, who dumped her for Joanna Chimonides earlier in the series.