Love Island's Samie Elishi is back in the villa for All Stars, but her last stint on the show brought with it an unexpected health challenge – a suspected cancer diagnosis, which came about after viewers contacted her after seeing a visible lump on her neck.
Back in April 2023, she told her YouTube subscribers that she was prepping to undergo surgery to remove a "5cm lump on my thyroid".
The reality star shared a 17-minute long emotional upload, titled: The video I never wanted to make. "Whilst I was in the [Love Island] villa, loads of my family and friends were getting messages saying 'Samie's got a lump on her neck'," she said on the platform.
After analysing the suspected neck area herself, Samie shared that she decided to get said lump checked out by medical professionals: "So, I've been having ongoing tests for it, went to the hospital and they [...] done a biposy."
"How it works is they grade these things one to five and mine was a three," she continued. "If it's four or five, they say normally it's definitely cancerous, you need to get it out but mine was a grey area, so they couldn't tell.
"They weren't sure if it was cancerous or not, so I have to have half of my thyroid removed," Samie said, explaining how the surgery works.
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While, understandably, tearing up, the ex-LI star shared her gratitude to viewers of the show; "I'm so grateful that people messaged so I've caught it now and I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to get it removed and get it sorted but it is still just really scary".
Thankfully, the tumour turned out to be benign and two years on from its removal, Samie posted again about the importance of regularly checking your body.
"It's soo weird because I never noticed it before in the slightest but now looking back in pictures it's so prominent and I don't know how I missed it," she said on Instagram.
Samie added, "I had no symptoms whatsoever apart from having the lump in my neck. When I came off the show [in 2022] my family and friends were flooded with messages from doctors and people who have had thyroid cancer previously saying I have a lump in my neck and it looks like thyroid cancer.
"I'm a true believer of everything happens for a reason. If it wasn't for me going on the show two years ago I would never have known [...] I booked an appointment at the doctors who then referred me to the hospital which lead to me having an ultrasound and then a biopsy.
"With the biopsy they injected a needle into the lump and took a small amount of it away for testing. This then came back as a 'grey area' but leaning more towards the cancer side so they insisted on me having surgery to get it removed. I was happy to have the surgery and just wanted it out so I probably would have got it removed even if it was leaning towards the safer side."
Now, Samie says the scar left on her neck doesn't bother her, saying she finds it "quite cool".
Lia Mappoura (she/her) is the Beauty Writer at Cosmopolitan UK, with over four years of experience reporting across the brand's print, social, video and digital platforms. Lia covers everything from emerging trend analysis to viral celebrity hair and makeup moments, making her an expert at spotting the season’s next big beauty look (before it takes over social media feeds).
In 2025, she was named The Rising Media Star at the Love Perfume Awards with The Perfume Shop, recognised for her outstanding digital fragrance content and for building genuine authority within the space. She is passionate about challenging outdated beauty stereotypes, championing inclusive representation in beauty, and educating readers on the trends, products and conversations shaping the industry today. Follow her on Instagram or find her on LinkedIn.
