Love Island's Montana Brown splits from Alex Beattie and throws shade: 'He hasn't been the same'

They were one of the most stable couples in the Love Island villa, always getting it on and never having a crossed word, but Montana Brown and Alex Beattie are the first couple from the ITV2 show to split in its aftermath.

When Olivia Attwood and Chris Hughes were at each other's throats and now loved up winners Amber Davies and Kem Cetinay were on and off like a light switch, Montana and Alex were canoodling and whispering sweet nothings to one another.

Personal trainer Alex – who Montana declared was "carved by angels" – even confessed to being in love with her after a week or two of romping on camera. After dropping the L-bomb, Montana's first reaction was to tell him: "No you don't." Promising start.

Now, it looks like the steam has already run out on the 'Malex' train. Montana, 21 – who struck the nation as a career driven Caroline Flack in the making – announced that she and Alex have now split up.

She wrote in a statement on Twitter: "Alex and I have decided to split. Making our relationship work on the outside has been hard.

Further throwing shade at Alex, she continues: "He hasn't been the same since coming out of the villa. Despite this we are still close and I will always support him."

Gulp. We can almost feel the dagger in Alex's heart. Many fans were quick to respond to the message, with one person replying: "So sad to hear this Mon I thought he seemed different as well when you both came out. Just hope you're happy and keep doing you!"

When one person defended Alex, it was suggested that he's become a party-goer since leaving the villa – despite being famed for his quiet personality.

One follower said: "Not knocking it but he was a mute... now he's a full on party lad, that's a change."

Another added: "'He's not the same'... went from 'quiet guy' to 'PA party lad' in two weeks! Don't worry girl, the best is yet to come."

Others accused Montana of being a game player, with someone else writing: "She didn't even like him in the first place biggest game player in there."

Since leaving the villa, most of the couples have been posting regular lovey dovey snaps with one another – but not Montana and Alex. They both appear to be living it up with friends, with Alex seemingly trying to impress by sharing a slew of modelling snaps of himself either topless or suited and booted.

One fan defended Alex on his latest Instagram snap, commenting: "You deserve better than Montana. Knew she was fake and to be honest she doesn't seem like a nice person at all. I don't know how everyone has been taken in by her. Plenty of fish in the sea and I'm sure you will have lots of offers. Enjoy the perks love island brings."