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Love Island star 'left homeless' by sinkhole

Getty Images Millie Court and Liam Reardon smiling at the camera, at an event with crowds of people behind themGetty Images
Liam Reardon spoke about the ordeal on the podcast he co-hosts with fellow Love Island star and girlfriend Millie Court

A Love Island winner has spoken about the "strange, unusual, crazy" experience of a massive sinkhole opening up on his driveway "like we were in a movie".

Liam Reardon, who won the 2021 season of the ITV reality show with girlfriend Millie Court, has now revealed that the sinkhole appeared in front of the home he rented with his family.

About 30 homes were evacuated in Merthyr Tydfil, on 1 December, with some residents moved to hotels and others staying with relatives.

Work to stabilise the sinkhole is ongoing in Nant Morlais, in the Pant area of the town, and it is not yet known when people will be able to return to their houses.

Eye In The Sky An aerial view of the street with the huge sinkhole and barriers and emergency services surrounding itEye In The Sky
The huge sink hole appeared at the front of the property rented by Liam Reardon's family

Speaking on the couple's podcast, he said: "It's gone viral on TikTok and everyone's commenting, speculating what they think it is.

"Some people think it's aliens. I'm reading it and it's just weird because it's outside my front door."

The Reardon family moved into the property about two months ago, after selling their family home.

Liam recalled driving over the area where the hole later appeared during the Saturday morning.

"We got a call at 2 o'clock in the afternoon saying we had a small sinkhole at the end of our drive. From there, it progressively got worse and worse throughout the evening," he said.

"We were in the house Sunday morning, having breakfast. The neighbours were out on the street, we had highway maintenance and engineers and stuff, all in our street.

"Then all of a sudden, our front gates and our front wall just disappeared into the hole. Our driveway started eating away.

"So then everyone's on the street [shouting] 'get out of the house, get out of the house'. I'm having a cup of tea now, a cup of coffee, my yoghurt, my eggs, and the driveway's just falling away.

"We could hear the thumping of the ground just disappearing. It was like we were in a movie."

Eye In the Sky A close up of the large sinkhole from aboveEye In the Sky
Work is ongoing to repair the sinkhole, which has been delayed by persistent poor weather

He said they had to "pack a case quickly and evacuate the house" and have been unable to return.

"Luckily, none of us are injured… but it's a big inconvenience," he said.

"It's the run-up to Christmas, we are virtually homeless.

"Our dogs Dolly and Otis, they don't know what's happening, they don't know if they're coming or going.

"We've been there a couple of months and they've kind of got used to that place and now we've had to move out and we're in this random AirBnB and the dogs don't know where they are again.

"Reality is, we're out of our home, we don't have a home now to live in."