Maura Higgins says she can’t talk about men because people assume she’s ‘shagging them’

The Longford model made the confession during a Q&A session on her Instagram stories.

One follower asked: “If you could couple up with any Love Islander of any season, who would it be?”

Responding to the question, Maura said: “This question, right guys, this is what I actually want to explain to you.

“I can’t answer any of these questions, do you know why?

“If I answer this it is going to make a headline, and it’s going to blow up saying that I really fancy this guy and then it’s just going to go everywhere, and then everyone thinks that when he comes out of the villa I’m going to be in love.”

“It just really bugs me,” she continued.

“If I talk about men at all its there and I’m shagging them and I’m humping an entire army.”

“And that’s basically my life so yeah, no,” she said.

The 31-year-old has been recently linked to footballer Connor Wickham (29).

Maura previously hinted that she was in a new relationship after enjoying a trip to Paris last month with a mystery man.

A source told The Sun: "Maura keeps her cards close to her chest but she seems totally mad on Connor.

"A good friend of hers put them in touch and they have been talking for some time.

"Connor and Maura went to Paris last month and it ended up being so romantic."

Although Maura didn’t show off her new man’s face during her Paris trip in May, she did share a series of snaps from her city break, including a stunning selfie in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Captioning the post, she said: "Fight for your fairytale."

Maura split from her former boyfriend Giovanni Perinice in October 2021 after a whirlwind romance.

The Italian dancer called time on their relationship in order to focus his time on Strictly Come Dancing.

In a statement, he said: Hey guys - I hope everyone had a great Monday,” he posted on Instagram.

“Going into another wonderful training week - thank you so much for your amazing messages and your support this weekend. I get to live my dream every single day because of you - so thank you, thank you, thank you. I wanted to say a couple of things…”

“Firstly, great relationships with great people can come to a natural end. This has been the case for me recently. There was absolutely no wrong-doing and this should be the end of any speculation,” he said of their split.

“Whilst I respect and understand interest in my personal life, wouldn't it be fantastic to instead use this space to raise awareness of subjects and issues which need the attention.”

“My eyes have been opened to so many things during my career. But I am learning so much from this series of Strictly.”

“The show has highlighted many important conversations for different communities and increased representation,” he said, speaking about his celebrity dance partner Rose Ayling, who is the show’s first deaf contestant.

“These are the conversations which deserve the time, energy and recognition. We must concentrate on what's important and how we can all make a difference in life,” he concluded.