Former Love Island contestants who have happily spent eight weeks on prime-time TV in swimwear aren’t usually our first port of call for a confidence boost, but Tasha Ghouri is the exception to the rule.
Since leaving the villa in 2022, the model and influencer has been using her platform to make people feel happier and more confident in their own skin. “I always say ‘no one else is you and that is your biggest power’ and I really believe in that,” Tasha says.
In 2024, she launched a podcast, Superpowers with Tasha, where she speaks to guests about what makes them unique, while talking about her experiences of being born deaf. While she split with her Love Island boyfriend Andrew Le Page earlier this year, she is firmly of the belief that finding inner confidence is the key to embracing new chapters. And she’s just launched a new self-help book, Your Super Power: Embrace What Makes You Different, proving it.
Chatting with PS on the edge of a bed, (we know you have questions – more on that later), we wanted to get the low-down on how she maintains her positive outlook while being in the spotlight. It would be easy to take a look at Tasha’s social media and see pure glamour, yet the night before our chat, Tasha took to Instagram to share “some reality”, highlighting that life is not always sunshine and rainbows – and that’s ok!
“I wanted to share so that everyone could see that people have knock-backs, people have down days, and we can all be there for each other.”
She explained how draining living with a disability can be (Tasha is deaf in both ears and has a cochlear implant), with “lip reading, the concentration of listening to people’s voices”, leaving her exhausted.
How important was it for her to share that with her audience? “With Instagram it’s so easy to make everything look perfect, and I just wanted to show that vulnerable part of me, that I do have sensitive moments,” Tasha explains to PS. “I sometimes forget I’m only 26 years old, I feel like I’m much older because I’ve been through so much already. I wanted to share so that everyone could see that people have knock-backs, people have down days, and we can all be there for each other.”
On those tougher days, Tasha tells us that it’s her beauty rituals that she returns to for a little confidence boost, as well as music and daily affirmations. “I don’t know what it is, but getting into bed, headphones on, listening to my favourite music makes me feel confident,” she says. “Writing affirmations in my journal also helps if I’m having a down day. Skincare, face masks, hair removal, and generally making sure I feel good make a huge difference too – just those little things. Even moisturising and washing my hair makes me feel refreshed again.” And she’s not alone. According to research by Philips Lumea, 46 per cent have an increased self-esteem after grooming.
Overcoming obstacles and challenging herself has clearly been a thread running through Tasha’s life and she’s on a mission to help others find their self-worth. Although she acknowledges, it’s not always easy.
“Remember that it’s not a race. It takes time to find your inner confidence, don’t compare yourself to anybody else and focus on your own path because that’s all that matters,” she says. “There’s no rush to have confidence straight away, just take every obstacle as an opportunity to overcome it.”
There’s no doubt that seeing Tasha proudly displaying her cochlear implant on TV has had a profound impact on young people growing up with a disability. Visibility is so important, and that’s something that Tasha believes the beauty space is lacking.
“I want to see someone who is blind, someone with a cochlear implant or a hearing aid. . . It only takes one person to do it, too. Once one makeup brand does it, others will follow.
“With beauty campaigns, there’s still that ‘perfect image’ and I think that needs to stop being normalised,” Tasha says. “I want to see someone who is blind, someone with a cochlear implant or a hearing aid. There’s still room for that, especially with high-end brands. It only takes one person to do it, too. Once one makeup brand does it, others will follow. I wish people would show the beauty of disabilities.”
Brands, take note. Her passion for true representation in the media was also clear during her time on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. Tasha wasn’t just the second ex-Islander to make the Strictly line-up, fox-trotting in the steps of Zara McDermott, but the second deaf contestant too, after actress Rose Ayling-Ellis won the show in 2021.
Image Source: Getty / Dave Benett
With an intense training and TV schedule for Strictly, Tasha made a point of incorporating moments of self-care into her routine where she could. “I didn’t really go out much, because the show does take over your life, but I made sure I still looked after my skin, especially after the Saturday show. You get your makeup done at 8/9am and have it on all day. Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm was great for taking it all off when I got home,” she says.
Although Tasha initially received some criticism for having previously received dance training (she clarified that her prior training was commercial, rather than ballroom or Latin), it’s clear she loved being on the show.
“It was my dream for so many years, and I just couldn’t believe it was happening,” exclaims Tasha. “For me, it was only about the dancing, it wasn’t about the competition. Going out there on the dancefloor on a Saturday night, connecting with people through the TV screen and doing something I’m so passionate about was just perfect. It was my biggest moment, and I feel like it’s brought me to the next stage of my career. This is my year to try new things, and I want to keep challenging myself.” Having achieved so much in just two-and-a-half years, somehow we think Tasha and her superpowers are destined for even bigger things.
Tasha’s Beauty Must-Haves
As beauty plays such a big part in our self-care rituals, we quizzed Tasha on her go-to products to help unleash her inner confidence. . .
