Love Island’s Shaughna Phillips ‘speechless’ after discovering £40k student loan debt
The season six Love Islander also revealed that she “did not know” what she was agreeing to when taking out the student loan in 2016
Video Loading
Click to play
Tap to play
The video will auto-play soon8Cancel
Shaughna Phillips reveals she cried over Love Island challenge
Former Love Island star Shaughna Phillips has revealed that she is more than £40,000 in debt due to her spiralling university student loan.
The 28-year-old, who appeared on the hit ITV dating show for the winter season in 2020, also explain that she “did not know” what she was signing up for when taking out the loan.
Taking to Twitter, Shaughna said she was “speechless” after finding out that her amount owed had actually increased after making more than 70 months of payments.
She said: “I’ve just done some digging into my student loan, and I’m speechless I started paying my student loan back in 2016, my outstanding balance was £38,040.
Love Island’s Shaughna Phillips is £40K in debt
Image:
( ITV)
“Since then I’ve made 75 payments, there’s 75 months in between then and now, and my current outstanding balance is £41,120.”
She added: “There were a few years where I hadn’t even paid off half of the interest added, let alone the actual loan.
“After interest, I paid of a whole £40 last year.
“Also for reference, the year before me tuition fees were £3k per year.”
Some criticised the telly star, asking what she thought she was signing up for when she applied for her university course.
“I was 17 and got a C in GCSE maths, I did not know what the f**k I was agreeing to lol,” she hit back.
She claims she didn’t know what she was signing up for at just 17-years-old
Image:
( ITV)
She also revealed that she got a C in GCSE maths
Image:
( Dave Benett/Getty Images)
She added: “I can speak for myself and say that I had absolutely no idea that the loan repayments were going to be based on my future income, and not the amount I actually borrowed.
“Which isn’t surprising considering I was 17-years-old.”
One fan replied: “This is why I dislike the system, it relies on people essentially not knowing what they’re signing up for.
“The two options are pay it off manually like most loans or repay the minimum and be in debt forever. Nasty choice which people need more info on before signing up.”
Seeing the funny side, the ex-Islander joked that she would be “using BA (Hons) in every single thing I sign from now on” including parcels and prescriptions.
Asked if she’d recommend university, Shaughna said: “Mmm it’s a difficult question.
Shaughna is now calling to scrap student fees
Image:
( ITV)
“It looks good on your CV, but not £40k good lol.
“I personally think it’s the worst quality of education I’ve received and it’s the only one I’ve paid for. However, my media training / knowledge definitely helps me in my current career.”
Another agreed with Shaughna, saying: “It’s ridiculous. I went to uni 2007-2010, borrowed £18,000.
“I’ve been in full-time employment in every month, except three, since Aug 2011 – so will have made 127 payments. Outstanding balance as of Aug 2022: £18,908.”
Naomi Smith, the chief executive of Best for Britain, a cross-party advocacy group focussing on human rights and equality, also weighed in on the Twitter thread.
She asked the Love Island star if she supported scrapping student fees, to which Shaughna replied “hell yes” in full caps.
Read More
Read More
Most Read
Don’t Miss
Stay up-to-date with all the news from the Love Island villa this summer with our regular newsletter
Invalid Email
Something went wrong, please try again later.
Thank you for subscribing
We have more newsletters
Privacy Notice
See our Privacy Notice