We know what you’re thinking (or, rather, tinkin’): Maura Higgins is an absolute catch. If you didn’t catch her on Love Island back in 2023, then you were probably introduced to the Irish fashion icon on this season of Dancing With the Stars or last season of The Traitors, where she made it all the way to the end with Rob Rausch before he ultimately betrayed her for the $220,800 prize pot. At least he got her a Birkin as an apology!
Of course, fans speculated that she and the fellow Love Islander may have been an item throughout the season. But any romantic sparks were merely a rumor, since Rob has a girlfriend and Maura has sparked renewed interest in her dating life with a cryptic Instagram Story she posted on October 3.
Maura previously maintained she’s taking a break from dating this year before dropping the shadowy soft-launch.
She got candid about her celibacy journey during a conversation with Cosmopolitan in March 2026, saying, “I don’t want to bring just anyone into my energy. It wasn’t even a plan to be celibate. I didn’t put a timeline on it. I just had terrible exes and needed a break. I wanted to focus on me, my career, and my energy. Now that it’s been over a year, I don’t even think of men. I’m not saying I’m not open [to a relationship], but I’m not checking my DMs to see who’s in there. I’m not searching for it.”
“My friends tell me that I need someone quieter than me. Some of my ex-partners didn’t like me overshadowing them—it was probably an ego thing,” she then told Cosmo what she looks for in her future partner. “My friends keep saying that my next partner needs to let me shine and be who I am…I want a man to let me be me and not try to dim my light.”
Just because her current relationship status remains a mystery, that doesn’t mean we can’t scroll through her past relationships in the meantime. Ahead, find Maura Higgins’ dating history, for your viewing pleasure.
2008–2017: James Finnegan
Long before she found fame on Love Island, Maura dated her childhood sweetheart James Finnegan, who she got engaged to in 2016. The pair were together for nearly nine years, eventually splitting up in 2017.
During a March 2026 interview with Cosmopolitan, Maura dished about the relationship without explicitly naming James.
“I met my first boyfriend in school, and we were with each other nine years. I was engaged. And obviously, when you meet someone young, you don’t really go out for dinner. You kind of just, like, meet up and, like, sit in each other’s cars,” she said.
As for how she knew the relationship was over, she admitted, “I genuinely believe if I stayed with that partner, I would have never moved out of my hometown and did what I wanted to do with my life. As much as I cared for him, I knew I didn’t want to marry him or have kids with him. And I think that kind of cemented the decision for me.”
2018–2019: Shane McGuigan
Maura was in another relationship before she made her way to the Love Island villa. After splitting with James, she started seeing boxing coach and commentator Shane McGuigan while working as a ring girl.
However, their romance fizzled out after they couldn’t make a long-distance relationship between London and Ireland work. Okay, then!
2019–2020: Curtis Pritchard
Here comes the Love Island effect! When Curtis joined the ITV series in 2019, he initially paired with Amy Hart before having eyes for bombshell Maura. They eventually locked into their connection and ended up dating for seven months outside the Villa.
According to Maura, they called things off because of their bustling careers and long distance. During an interview with The Sun, Maura admitted, “Curtis and I barely saw each other. At the beginning, it was very, very hard because I was so besotted with him, and we never got to see each other.”
She added, “When we did, it was really nice because you got the time to miss somebody. But sometimes it would be two weeks. You know when you’re in a relationship, and you know someone’s day-to-day? We were that busy that we didn’t, and it was strange.”
Curtis also debunked rumors that he and Maura broke up because he had cheated on her, separately telling the outlet, “The answer is no, I did not cheat on Maura at all. There, I’ve answered it.”
A few years later, Curtis had a pretty awkward reunion with Maura when he was eliminated from Love Island Games in 2023.
2020–2021: Chris Taylor
After her public romance with Curtis, Maura moved on with another Love Island alum, Chris Taylor. Believe it or not, the pair actually had a sweet friendship on the show before heading into romantic territory in 2020.
The pair initially sparked romance rumors when Chris was spotted leaving her place one early morning. They fueled them further with cheeky banter on social media, including that one time Chris fully recreated Maura’s (since-deleted) “Just need to find a Mickey” selfie.
Their romance didn’t last much longer, since they only dated for six months. They each explained why they broke up in separate Instagram Stories, both claiming there’s nothing but love between them.
“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 at the time. “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. There is no regret. Life is about taking chances. We wanted to make this work but we have realised we work better being friends.”
Chris would later open up about their relationship years after their split during a 2024 interview on Celebs Go Dating.
“I became friends with Maura, and we were mates for ages, and then it kind of progressed into other things,” he shared, later adding that he had “fallen in love” with her while she allegedly didn’t reciprocate those feelings.
2021: Giovanni Pernice
Maura pretty much confirmed she was with Strictly Come Dancing pro dancer Giovanni Pernice when they were spotted holding hands at a soccer game in June 2021. They went on to date and share cute posts on social media until October that same year, when Maura deleted everything in the wake of their split.
At the time, sources told The Sun, “It’s all over for now. Maura’s absolutely devastated, it appears the Strictly curse has struck again…Pals are hoping that they can patch things up. But only time will tell whether they’ll work things out as Giovanni is so busy.”
However, Giovanni weighed in with a statement on his Instagram Stories, confirming the reason behind his and Maura’s split. Apparently, there was no bad blood in the end.
“I wanted to say a couple of things… Firstly, great relationships with great people can come to a natural end,” he shared. “This has been the case for me recently. There was absolutely no wrongdoing, and this should be the end of any speculation.”
2023–2024: Bobby Holland Hanton
Maura’s last major (and public) relationship was with Hollywood stunt double Bobby Holland Hanton, who is best known as Chris Hemsworth’s stand-in. For the most part, Maura and Bobby remained under the radar when they dated for nearly a year. They celebrated New Year’s Eve and took trips to the Maldives together before calling it quits in March 2024.
Though no formal announcements were made regarding their split, it was seemingly confirmed when they unfollowed each other and removed photos on Instagram.
“It was really fun for a while,” a source told The Sun of their relationship, adding, “But they’re different people. It’s over between them.”
A few months in September 2024, Maura emphasized they were capital “O” over when telling Closer, “I’ve had Hollywood men slide into my DMs. But I’m not going to do that, be flown to Hollywood for a first date. They have to come to me!”
Maura, the icon you are!!
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