Samantha Poole was braced for a flat-out no from her mum after being offered a spot on Love Island Australia.
Instead, she got a plea: “Sammi, please go and find someone!” The 2024 Miss New Zealand winner, 23, laughs, “Her one piece of advice going into the villa was, ‘Give a guy a chance, Sammi!’”
The advice was much needed. Whanga¯rei model and influencer Sammi, who grew up in South Africa, had been single for four years and hadn’t been kissed in nearly two years when the call came.
“It’s not that I’m super-picky,” she insists. “If I know it’s not going to work, I just won’t bother putting my time and effort into it. It was better for me to put that time into myself. Also, I was in Whanga¯rei – there wasn’t much going on for me!”
Now, with Oz’s eighth season of Love Island premiering this week, Sammi is about to watch her love life play out in front of millions of viewers. And she’s not easing in quietly – she’s entering as a “bombshell” intruder sent to shake things up.
“It’s very intimidating,” she admits. “I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes, but that’s literally part of the job.”
Saying yes to the unknown
Kiwis last saw Sammi on this year’s Celebrity Treasure Island, where she survived just one episode, but the show left her with a new outlook.
“I’ve decided to say yes to everything that comes my way,” she explains. “What’s meant for me will find me.”
But swapping rustic Northland beach huts for the luxurious Fijian villa where the US version of Love Island is filmed brought new nerves for Sammi, who was especially anxious about her fellow female contestants.
“They can make or break my experience,” she says. “If the girls don’t like me, it becomes a big feud or there are love triangles… I just don’t want enemies in there.”
A self-confessed “girl’s girl”, Sammi has leant on her pageant years, where her rivals became like sisters, to get her through the early days of filming.
“Yes, we might be fighting for a man, but we’re still living together. We became a family – a very weird family!”
Pushing past her comfort zone
Earlier this year, Sammi opened up about how losing control can trigger her anxiety, so why would she want to go on Love Island, where they take away your phone and your privacy?
“For me, it’s putting myself in the situations that are the most out of my comfort zone,” she reflects. “The further I push it, the further my comfort zone expands. I think I can do anything now.”
That includes rocking bikinis. Sammi, who spent her teens in a back brace for scoliosis, used to rarely post swimwear shots, but living in her togs on Love Island has changed everything.
“Now I just walk to the beach in a bikini and I don’t care,” she smiles. “The whole world’s going to see me in one anyway.”
As for how she might be portrayed on the show, Sammi’s philosophical.
“You say what you say and the editors can only use what you give them. As long as I can survive longer than I did on CTI, I’ll be happy.”
What she’s looking for in love
Sammi’s past dates have included a polo player, an Olympic fencer, a rugby player and a basketballer, although she insists she doesn’t consciously go after sports stars.
“I just love a driven guy,” she says. “Confidence, drive and a nice soul.”
Before Love Island, Sammi had never dated an Aussie and was “quite excited for the accent”, though she’s found Aussie men “a lot more forward” than Kiwis.
She laughs, “Some might call it cockiness.”
Her biggest red flag is a man who dates two women at once and, off camera, she runs a strict one-strike policy. Sammi explains, “If they mess up once, that’s it. But I’ve been told to do it differently in the villa!”
Ready for the ride
If Mum is her biggest cheerleader, Sammi’s three protective brothers are a different story. She hasn’t told them she’s on the show.
“I’ll be surprised if they watch it and don’t want to bonk a few heads,” she jokes.
Her mum knows everything that’s happened, but Sammi plans to watch each episode first before she lets her mother see it. “Maybe I’ll edit out some stuff for her!”
Without spoilers, she sums up her Love Island experience in three words: “Crazy, amazing rollercoaster.” And she’s ready for whatever comes next.
“I’ve put myself in a position to be completely out of control – in the villa and outside it, with everyone giving me their unsolicited advice and opinions,” says Sammi. “But I’m here for it. I’m along for the ride.”
Love Island Australia premieres 9.05pm Tuesday on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+.
