Love Island's Liberty Poole "still cares" about Jake Cornish and the pair will "always be friends".
Liberty Poole and Jake Cornish
The stars became the first couple of this year's series after getting together in the first episode, but they quit the villa early last week after splitting up.
However, the 21-year-old waitress and marketing student has insisted she and the 24-year-old water engineer will still be pals.
Speaking on 'Love Island: Aftersun', she said: "It was so hard, I do still care about Jake and I did really love him but if you’re not happy you’ve got to put your feelings first. It was a hard decision, it wasn’t easy.
"We are definitely always going to be friends, we have the same banter and we get on really well but when it comes to a relationship, we just communicated differently and that is why it ended the way it did."
Jake held back the tears as she watched footage of Liberty getting upset last week in the villa while telling fellow Islander Faye Winter that she didn't want to continue her romance.
When 'Aftersun' host Laura Whitmore said she was getting upset watching it back, he said: "I am as well to be honest with you … ah, Jesus.
"It's not nice to see, especially when that's because of me ... when you think that's because of me ..."
During the series, some social media users claimed Jake was "playing a game" throughout the programme - but he has hit back at such accusations.
He said: "I’ve just got to laugh.
"If I was playing a game I would still be in there, that is what got to me the most, that he’s fake and not genuine."
Liberty explained: "What Jake and me had to begin with was genuine, we dealt with things differently."
The former couple opted to leave the villa early to give the remaining four couples, Faye and Teddy Soares, Chloe Burrows and Toby Aromolaran, Kaz Kamwi and Tyler Cruickshank, and Millie Court and Liam Reardon, the chance to triumph in tonight's (23.08.21) finale instead.