Shaq and Tanya survived the whole of Love Island season 9 from day 1 to take fourth place.
The reality show finals date took place on 13 March 2023, and saw four couples – Kai Fagan and Sanam Harrinanan, Ron Hall and Lana Jenkins, Tom Clare and Samie Elishi, and Shaq Muhammad and Tanya Mahenga – vying to win the crown and £50,000 in prize money.
READ MORE: Love Island’s Shaq Muhammad: Age, Family, Religion, Social Media and more
The controversial couple has split fans heavily, with many furious they were even in the final. One fan wrote: “Shouldn’t have even made it past casa, that girl has skills at game playing”, another said “I only dislike Tanya, Shaq is alrighr” and another said: “enjoy the relationship now Shaq, she’ll be with someone else in 24 hours”.
The flack both are getting probably stems from Tanya’s perceived actions from Casa Amor until the end of the show.
How Shaq and Tanya met, and fell in love
Shaq, 24, and Tanya, 23, were one of the most controversial relationship of the series.
The pair, dubbed Shanya, had an instant attraction from day 1 when they both chose to couple with one another. Even when new boy David Salako entered the villa on day 3 and gunned for Tanya, she still chose to recouple with Shaq on day 5.
Everything was smooth sailing for the pair, declaring “I love you” very early on, dedicated themselves to one another until day 28 came along – Casa Amor.
On entering the Casa Amor villa, Tanya was immediately drawn to new boy, Martin Akinola. She flirted with him, had a cheeky kiss and ultimately chose to couple up with him on day 32, taking him back into the main villa where heartbroken Shaq was – he had been loyal throughout.
Tanya and Martin, 27, became Tartin. All that quickly went sour when Tanya decided that she wanted Shaq and chose interesting ways to go about it with both boys. Fans were not pleased, dubbing her Mrs Ego.
In the end, Shaq who was smitten took Tanya back, recoupling on day 40. The couple worked to strengthen their relationship and became even closer by the end of the show.
