Rugby club send message to Love Island star as he leaves team to "find the one"

10 January 2023 , 21:22

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Kai Fagan is swapping rugby pitches for a Love Island villa (Image: INSTAGRAM@https://www.instagram.com/p/CjTF_MZj2-j/?hl=en)

A rugby player has been urged to 'find the one' by his club after swapping the wind and rain of the UK for the sun of South Africa.

Kai Fagan, of Burnage RFC, is one of 10 contestants selected to be on the 2023 version of Love Island. The 24-year-old science and PE teacher has told ITV he's "looking for the right girl," risking mockery from his teammates.

The centre/winger has switched codes having previously enjoyed success in rugby league. While at Sheffield Hallam University, he played for the England Universities RL side in 2019, being presented with his shirt by former Steve Prescott Man of Steel Luke Gale.

He was also selected for the GB Pioneers student side, and represented the Universities North side in a win over Universities South at Loughborough in February 2019. And he's had international experience in another format too: "I played rugby 7s for Jamaica, and I play semi-professional rugby now for Burnage RFC," he told The Sun.

And his latest club have clearly given him their blessing, posting on Instagram : "Announcing our very own @kaifagan_ as one of the 2023 @loveisland contestants. We want to wish him all the best and here’s to hoping he finds the one on the island, because he hasn’t found any around Burnage yet…"

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It's the second successive year an oval player will be involved in the reality TV show, after Jacques O’Neill left Castleford to a contestant last year. The 23-year-old has since been linked with a return to rugby league, but is currently sidelined with a foot injury.

PE and science teacher Kai has been wished well by his rugby club (ITV)

And if Fagan wants tips on how to handle the limelight, he could do a lot worse than call a former schoolmate. He's revealed he was educated in the same place as Manchester United star Marcus Rashford.

And is celebrity links don't end there, revaling: "My cousin Dean was in Coronation Street, and I went to school with Marcus Rashford. We were in the same class."

The second ever winter season of Love Island is set to air later this month on ITV2 and ITVX. The show has become a worldwide phenomenon since first airing in the UK in 2005, now mirrored in a host of other international countries.

Fraser Watson