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EXCLUSIVE: Love Island's Simba reveals deeper meaning behind his mum 'smiled bares' quote
4 August 2026, 12:40 | Updated: 4 August 2026, 12:57
In an interview with Capital, Love Island's Simba has revealed the emotional meaning behind his mum 'smiled bares' quote from his speech to Angelista Gunda.
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Simba Kudyiwa and Angelista Gunda had a rocky journey on Love Island, but Simba's infamous speech at the firepit was a turning point for the couple.
Simba read out a love letter he'd written for Angelista after he'd broke her heart with his Casa Amor actions. In the letter he shared that he had watched the show with his family before making his bombshell entrance.
He recalled the moment he told his mum that Angelista was a nurse, saying: "My mum asked me what you do for work, and I said you're a nurse. She smiled bares."
Many fans reacted to the 'smiled bares' comment online, claiming it was the phrase of the summer. However, Simba has shared with us there's a much deeper meaning behind it.
While speaking with Capital, Simba and Angelista explained that the meaning behind the phrase was explained in the villa but never aired on the show.
Simba said: "I care for my mum, she's got Motor Neurone Disease which is obviously a neurological illness. So she can't speak, so she when I said she 'smiled bares' that's her form of communication.
Simba then explained that his mum uses an eye gaze that allows her to communicate using her eyes, saying: "So she's written 'oh, what does she [Angelista] do for work?', I said 'ah she's a nurse' and boom, she started smiling bares.
"That is why I said she 'smiled bares'. But I don't think it was really shown in the show in terms of me looking after my mum and her condition."
Angelista added: "We had so many conversations about how we care for people."
Simba then thanked Angelista for prompting him to speak about it, as he said: "Shout out Angie, because I did say I wanted to address this one time."
Reflecting on the online popularity the phrase got, Simba said: "I love it! I want people to keep saying it. My mum is saying it all the time."
Angelista even added: "I've even seen a picture of her and she was smiling so hard."
Read more about Love Island here:
- Love Island's Julia confronts Lorenzo on live TV for not taking her on a date
- Love Island's Mica and Samraj share major relationship milestone days after the final
- EXCLUSIVE: Love Island's Aidan reveals whether he knew his brother Kavan was going into the villa
- EXCLUSIVE: Love Island's Priya breaks silence on what happened with Casa Amor bombshell Gabriel
- Love Island's Samie Elishi reveals she was kicked out of the final 'Aftersun'
