Love Island star Davide Sanclimenti has addressed claims that he ‘dumped’ Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu after news broke that the pair had split up.
The 2022 winners have officially called it quits after meeting in the villa last year, with 27-year-old Sanclimenti confirming last week that they had gone their separate ways.
"Ekin Su and I are no longer together," he said in a statement on his Instagram Story.
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"I am grateful for the memories and opportunities we shared together and I wish her nothing but the best. I would like for everybody to respect this decision during this difficult time, I will continue to support Ekin in anyway possible."
Cülcüloğlu hasn't yet shared a statement of her own on the split, but she seems to have been enjoying herself in recent days with a trip away and a family get-together with her mum and auntie.
While neither has divulged the specifics of the breakup, a source close to Sanclimenti told The Sun that he had allegedly decided to call it quits after feeling like he was living ‘in Ekin’s shadow, with no room to grow’.
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However, Sanclimenti has now decided to clear up a number of rumours in a new message on Instagram.
Yesterday, he wrote: “Posting publicly about the breakup was extremely difficult but necessary, despite the urge to keep it private, and contrary to what Chinese whispers are saying, I didn't blindside her as she was fully aware about my intention to post.
“At first she even agreed to post at the same time, she did change her mind last minute though.
“I respected her decision not to post it at the same time as me, but since the relationship has been on the rocks for months and parting ways has been a long time coming, I ultimately decided to go ahead with it rather than keeping on dragging a situation that became unhealthy for both of us.
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“This has been one of the hardest [thing] I ever did in my life and there’s no perfect way to navigate a breakup.”
Sanclimenti also slammed the ‘stream of toxic criticism’ that has been circling, saying he found it ‘disheartening’.
He continued: “The constant creation of fake narratives on a person who was nothing but a genuine, caring and loving boyfriend for her and all he wanted was to enjoy and nurture the beautiful relationship they had.
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“And instead we had to deal with ridiculous accusations and fake stories. This over time had a massive impact on my mental health and our relationship.”
He said while ‘no one is perfect’, there had been a lot of pressure on him and Cülcüloğlu to be the perfect couple.
“I’d accept the constructive criticism, but it’s the daily fake and toxic accusations that are going around that I cannot deal with,” Sanclimenti added.
“It saddens me that some people keep judging a relationship and a person based solely on social media snippets, news and rumors, lacking the full context of what happens in real life and what has been said between me and Ekin.”
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He said he had even been ‘judged’ on his grasp of the English language, despite feeling ‘proud’ of himself after arriving in the UK without knowing a word of English just four years ago.
Sanclimenti signed off the lengthy message saying: “Thank you for the many supportive and kind messages I’ve received and keep on receiving.
“I will keep on being the genuine, loving and fun person I’ve always been and people have loved.”
Tyla has reached out to Cülcüloğlu's reps for comment.
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/ekinsuofficial/davidesancliTopics: Celebrity, Love Island