Gemma Owen exploded onto the scene as the no-nonsense 19-year-old on last summer’s Love Island.
The firm head on her shoulders may have come from growing up with Michael Owen has her father. But she isn’t living in her father’s shadow as an accomplished dressage rider and she boasts two million followers on Instagram.
Almost immediately after stepping out of the Love Island villa she signed a deal with PrettyLittleThing to create her own dream collections. And her latest one has dropped onsite this week.
VIP Magazine caught up with Gemma to chat life after Love Island, fashion and her grá for Ireland…
Hey Gemma! You’re definitely a summer girl. Tell us your plans for the summer months! Will you be working or are you heading on holidays?
I think it will be a bit of both. I think will carry on bits with work, I have a few exciting things coming up. I want to go on a summer holiday with the family and spend quality time with them. With my riding, I want to get to some competitions with that. Holidays are definitely on the cards.
Speaking of holidays, you were over in Ireland before Christmas for the PrettyLittleThing party have you plans to come back?
I would like to come back to Ireland. Literally, the 24 hours I was there was so lovely, the people were so nice. I haven’t been back since the PLT Party. I would like to go for a long weekend!
You’re really close with your family. Have they been a great support after coming out of Love Island, especially when it comes to the nasty side of fame?
I think having a family that has experienced life in the public eye has helped. My dad knows it very well, even though we’re in different industries, he knows the highs and lows of it. It has been really helpful to go to him. We can share similar feelings. That has been good and useful. My family are very tight and close. That has helped when we do see negative rumours. Having that tight-knit, supportive family has been really amazing. It’s been good. I’m so thankful that they know what’s really going on.
Your true love is dressage. How has it been getting back in the saddle?
My competition horse, Sirius, passed away about two months ago really suddenly and really unexpectedly. That was really hard to come to terms with and get over. It wasn’t just losing a pet but losing that side of my life. That’s all I’ve known since I was really young. It was nice to have this new sort of life that has happened overnight with all the influencing and stuff to have the horse side of things that keep me grounded. I had qualified to compete internationally again with that horse and it was all taken quite quickly from me. It was really upsetting.
We’re really sorry, Gemma. Will you be continuing on in dressage?
We have a horse that is on lease until the end of the year so I can get used to her. She’s a lot younger than my other horse and she’s not as experienced. I’m trying to work on her. She’s really lovely. It’s really lovely to have the horses back in my life again because I missed that.
Aside from competing what’s next for you?
I have this collection launching with PrettyLittleThing and then I have another collection launching in May with Abbott Lyon. I have been working with other brands on the influencer side of things as well as on the dressage side. It will be an interesting few months.
Tell us a bit about your latest PrettyLittleThing collection.
The inspiration behind the collection was very summer. I had summer on the mind. Summer nights out, summer holidays, beach vibes, everything summer. It’s very feminine and elegant. I’d like to say classy. It’s very versatile in the way it can be evening looks or day looks. It is quite earthy toned. This is my favourite collection yet.
Before we let you go Gemma, if you could go back 12 months what advice would you give yourself?
I don’t know actually. I feel like I’ve grown so much as a person in the last 12 months in terms of me personally as well as my style and my fashion and even how I look at life. It’s just a lot different. It feels like so long ago, 12 months feels like a lifetime ago.
Take a look at Gemma’s latest PrettyLittleThing 24-piece collection here.
