A Timeline Of Former Flames Maura Higgins & Chris Taylor’s Romance

Chris Taylor has been having a grand ol’ time in Love Island: All Stars.

He’s been coupling up, having a flirt, and shifting Arabella Chi on the terrace while his glasses steam up – it’s all been happening.

Some of you might know Chris best for his gas Insta reels. Others might know him for his role in the actual Barbie movie. But we know him best for coupling up with our very own Maura Higgins outside of the villa.

It was a relationship for the ages, one that we were all rooting for. Alas, it was not meant to be, but as Chris is now in All Stars, and Maura is our gal, it got us thinking about the pair’s former relationship, how they got together, and how they ended.

Here’s a timeline of how it all went down.

August 2019: Chris and Maura meet

It was in the fifth series of Love Island that Chris and Maura met for the first time. Though they were in a couple together, Maura later admitted that she didn’t have any feelings for her friend while in the villa.

Chris was dumped before the final while Maura left the show in a relationship with Curtis Pritchard. She later told Mail Online: “Obviously there was a lot of press about us for so long but we were genuinely just friends, nothing had ever happened – we hadn’t even kissed. I started going on dates again and everything.

“I honestly never thought Chris was into me at all. I even asked him: ‘Did you fancy me in Love Island or what’s the story?’ He said he did, but when he asked me I told him, ‘no I didn’t fancy you at all!’”

June 2020: The pair fuel romance rumours

Following Maura’s split from Curtis, she and Chris began spending more and more time together – but just as pals. To begin with, anyway.

The pair posted a plethora of TikToks together in which they took part in dances, viral trends, and even a nearly-kissing challenge. Suspicious.

All the while though, they remained adamant that nothing was happening between them, with Maura saying: “No we’re not dating… we are the best of friends. We just get on really really well. We got on well in the villa but not a lot of that was [shown].”

Chris also told Vicky Pattison’s podcast that he could “potentially” see a romance with Maura, but, “We’ve never really thought about it like that, we’re just super close mates. We care about each other, we look out for each other, we basically bully each other.”

November 2020: Chris and Maura announce their romantic relationship

After a few months of this, the pair eventually announced that they had, in fact, fallen for each other.

Taking to Instagram, Maura wrote: “He’s mine,” while Chris said: “Turns out I fell in love with my best mate.” Obsessed.

January 2021: The pair chat marriage and kids

A few months later, Maura told The Sun On Sunday that she really saw a future with Chris: “We’re very much in love and we use the L-word a lot. I look into the future and see myself with a family.

“I want to be married before I have a baby, so Chris better hurry up and give me that engagement ring, because I’m not getting any younger.”

April 2021: Maura opens up on why their romance works so well

Speaking to The Sunday World, Maura gave some insight into how the pair became more than just friends, saying: “We were very close friends and, looking back now, we never would have thought that we would be in a relationship.

“I never even thought of that, and it sort of just happened. We started spending a lot of time together and then it was just a bit obvious that if we get on this well it could be the foundation to a good relationship.”

May, 2021: Maura and Chris announce their split

“It breaks my heart to even type this but I wanted to let everyone know that myself and Chris have made the joint decision to end our relationship,” Maura wrote on Instagram. “There is no wrongdoing on either side… We still love, care and respect each other deeply. From the minute we met each other we’ve been very close friends and that will never change.

She continued, “There is no regret. Life is about taking chances. We wanted to make this work but we have realised we work better being friends.

“Whilst I appreciate people may speculate or create false stories, this is the truth. I wish Chris nothing but the best and I will always be one of his biggest supporters.”

Chris also shared the news online, saying: “We are both still on very good terms and this was a mutual decision where nobody had done anything wrong.

“We will remain friends, as we have been since day 1 and I will always be in Maura’s corner and have her back. We are both going through a tough time with this at the moment, so please take any speculation with a metric tonne of salt, cos this is the only truth (and as always trolls can kindly f*** off).

“Thank you for all the love and support you’ve given us, it’s been truly appreciated.”

• Chris Taylor
• love island
• Maura Higgins