YOU might look at her and think she’s just a pretty woman in a bikini, but in fact there’s a lot more to Olivia Hawkins than initially meets the eye.
Not only does the series nine Love Island star have a first class honours degree, but she’s also an actress, having previously appeared in No Time To Die.
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But that’s not all – as this 28-year-old from Brighton has recently demonstrated her public speaking skills – after delivering a speech at Oxford University, in their second ever all women’s debate.
Liv has racked up a staggering 323,000 followers on Instagram, and the content creator opened up to Fabulous about the importance of influencers doing more than just raving about teeth whitening and their new shoes online.
Liv revealed all about the ‘proud moment’, where she spoke about women’s sacrifice during her Oxford Union speech.
She described talking at Oxford as an ‘absolute hour’, and one to ‘tick off’ her bucket list.
Talking to Fabulous, Liv explained: “This was their second ever all women’s debate in 200 years.
“I actually only had 24 hours notice to do it, to write a 10 minute speech. I stayed up until about 2am, because I was really passionate about the debate.
“I’ve always looked at places like Oxford and Cambridge as the most prestigious universities in the country – they’re up there with Harvard for me.
“So for them to even contact me and ask me to be a part of it, and especially it being all women, that just solidified a proud moment for me.
“I was quite nervous to go into Oxford just because everyone is very intelligent, it’s the best of the best, and I was worried that they might judge me.
“But they were the loveliest people I’ve ever met, and when I came out from my speech, I had so much praise from them, and a lot of them said ‘you swayed our vote, it’s the best speech we’ve heard’, and I honestly thought they were talking to the wrong person.
“I don’t think I give myself enough credit. I was very, very happy with the outcome.
“I was honestly so blessed. But yeah, it’s spurred me on to want to do more.”
LOVE ISLAND STEREOTYPES
Liv explained that she’s key to hit back at stereotypes about Love Islanders – and their intelligence.
She added: “I think when people go on Love Island, you just see them as a character and as beautiful people.
People just think, ‘oh, they’re just these pretty people that don’t know what they’re talking about’
Liv Hawkins
“There’s only a surface level that people get to see and no one knows what degrees you’ve done, what your background is.
“I’ve got A-Levels, I went to Musical Theatre College. I got a first class degree.
“So, you know, people just think, ‘oh, they’re just these pretty people that don’t know what they’re talking about’. I guess it opens people up to a different side to you.”
BRAINS AND BEAUTY
Liv stressed the importance of having brains, as well as beauty, as she added: “I’m definitely proud that I have something to fall back on.
“Because in my industry, I knew that it was inevitable that from job to job you’re always going to have bits in between where you might need other things on the side.
“So I always thought having a degree and everything to fall back on was the best thing to do.”
When it comes to influencing, Liv shared: “A lot of people do say ‘it’s so easy, it’s just taking photos and videos’, and granted, I don’t want to sit here and say, ‘it’s so much harder than a 9 to 5’, because it’s not.
“But there’s different aspects that are harder – the mental struggles, the scrutiny.
“There are a lot of opinions, and then, when you’re getting messages about your appearance and so forth, especially coming off a show like Love Island, it is hard to deal with.”
KEYBOARD WARRIORS
Liv revealed that trolls claim that her ‘personality made her ugly’ whilst on Love Island.
Not only this, but she admitted that she also receives regular comments about her lips.
She added: “I think because people are watching you every night, they feel they have a right to say these things about you. But really, we’re all human, so it’s just not nice.
Women just shouldn’t be in boxes. I think we should just all be equal
Liv Hawkins
“I have the odd day where someone messages me and I might take it a bit more personally, but I just think it says a lot more about someone else to send a horrible message to you.
“Sometimes I do respond. A lot of the time I don’t. I think sometimes they just want a reaction, and they don’t actually expect you to reply.”
Liv also opened up on the trolling she has received since leaving the villa, explaining: “The first week or two was pretty hard.
“I had a few messages, I wouldn’t say death threats, but I had one that said, ‘I hope your plane crashes on the way home.’
“I laugh now because it is so ridiculous. But at that moment that was my first time experiencing something like that.
“So I really did take it deeply.
“For me it’s like, maybe they wish they were in my position, and they had the opportunity to do it. [People] may be [jealous].
“And that was the point in my speech, it’s all about women empowerment and that we’re able to do what we want. And how we shouldn’t have to sacrifice anything in our life.
“We’re strong and we can have careers, and we can have families, and we can have love and friendship. And we shouldn’t let anyone bring us down.
“Even with the pay gap and everything that’s still going on in that sense, I know it is a lot better, but there still is a long way to go.
“And even with men, for paternity and maternity leave pay, there is still a long way to go.
“There is this stereotype that women always have to look good and be presentable. Women just shouldn’t be in boxes. I think we should just all be equal.”
RAISING AWARENESS
Liv explained that she wanted to raise awareness through her speech, and to establish herself on a different path to other Islanders.
She beamed: “Having a voice and being in the public eye, to go somewhere like that, so prestigious, I just thought, I wanna raise awareness.
“I guess, to establish myself in a different path.
“I’m so grateful for Love Island and that opportunity, but there is a platform to be had, and you know, I have a voice, so why not use it?
“The more people that speak up the better I think.”
Since the event, Liv shared: “I’ve had 95% amazing reactions. Everyone’s saying, ‘so proud of you’ and ‘it’s so nice to see someone come off something like Love Island and do something like this’.
“But then there is that 5% saying, ‘why would they let someone from Love island come to Oxford?’ and that is the part that gets to you because you’re like, ‘have we not come so far?’
“It’s hard because you look at all the positive comments, and then the one that stands out is the one negative one, and you really try to brush it off.
“But you do read them, and it does affect you, as much as people want to say it doesn’t, it does.”
ON-SCREEN PORTRAYAL
During her time on the ITV show, Liv was coupled up with her Casa Amor co-star Maxwell Samuda.
And she says viewers shouldn’t believe everything they see, as things change in the editing suite.
Liv shared: “I felt like a lot of the focus was on me and other females and my friendships and falling outs.
“But the reality of what I lived was very far from what was shown.
“And that’s fine, because we’re living a 24-hour day, and you can only fit in, with the breaks, about 45 minutes for a show in an evening.
“The people that I was shown to be falling out with, or maybe not as close within the villa, I was actually friends with.
“So [there was] that stereotype of pitting the females against each other, but it doesn’t seem to really happen so much with the males.
“For my intro, it said that I’m a performer, and that I did ring girling, but ring girling for boxing was 5% of my life.
“My main thing was performing, and I am very academic as well.
“I do think there is a stereotype that people in that field don’t have an intellectual background, and they don’t have brains, but that’s far from the truth.”
GETTING INVOLVED
Liv stressed the importance of influencers getting involved in politics and large debates, as she explained: “I think social media is such a huge part of everyone’s life.
“You speak to anyone, they’ve got Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. Everyone is involved in it somehow, even if they don’t have it, someone in the family has it.
“So I think, for someone to have such a big platform on social media, they can bring in the younger generation. And then, if they’re going into Parliament, it just raises more awareness for everyone.
“With social media, it just brings the younger generation into it, which I don’t think is a bad thing. It’s influential, isn’t it? It’s easier to grasp.”
After social media users described Liv’s speech as ‘giving Kim K vibes’, she responded: “It’s very flattering to be compared to people like that.
“But I wanna pave my own path and do my own thing, and being compared to people is fine, but I want to make my own journey.
“I’d love to be a part of more of it. Any other debates they have, I said I’d be more than willing to come along.
“I definitely wanna get back into television, even into documentaries. I’d love to do one on trolling, just because when I came out I did suffer from it quite a bit.
“It’s just bringing awareness to people. And when you have a platform, why not use it for good?”
And Liv certainly wouldn’t rule out a trip to Parliament, as she continued: “I’m open to doing lots of things, I think what Zara [McDermott] is doing is great.
“But I wanna do my own thing for sure.”
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