Is Love Island's Chris Taylor in the Barbie movie? The 411

Chris Taylor Barbie movie: Chris Taylor attends the European premiere of 'Barbie' at the Cineworld Leicester Square in London, United Kingdom on July 12, 2023./ in a pink template

(Image credit: Getty Images/ Karwai Tang/WireImage)

last updated 14 July 2023

Here we were thinking we'd got a count on most of the Barbies and Kens in Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie, but we were so NOT banking on a former Love Island star debuting their 'Kenergy' on the silver screen. So, have we really got a Chris Taylor Barbie movie appearance on our hands?

From Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling to Issa Rae, Michael Cera, Emma Mackey and Dua Lipa, the Barbie movie's cast is the definition of star-studded. The list just seems never-ending, with a cohort of stars set to embody the many iterations of Barbie and Ken.

But there's one name on that roster that might come as a surprise, especially to fans of a little reality dating show called Love Island UK...

Is Love Island's Chris Taylor in the 'Barbie' movie?

Yes indeed, Chris Taylor's representatives confirmed to My Imperfect Life that the former Love Island star is indeed in the Barbie movie.

Then on Thursday, July 13, 2023, Chris himself, took to Instagram to confirm the news, following the London premiere. In his post, he wrote: "This WILL sound made up…but I’m in the ACTUAL Barbie Film 🤯 No bloody idea how, but here we are…I’m an actual Ken (I talk a lot of sh!te so swipe for evidence 😂).

"Wish I had more to say about this, but I still think I’ve imagined it. Thank you to the person who made this happen, you know who you are, you glorious ray of human sunshine 🌝." So, there you have it, we officially have a reality star, Ken!

A post shared by Chris Taylor (@christophertaylorofficial)
A photo posted by on

For those who don't know, Chris Taylor starred in season five of the ITV dating show (which is arguably one of the best Love Island UK seasons ever). He also previously dated fellow islander Maura Higgins, who happens to be one of the most popular bombshells in the show's history.

Does Chris Taylor play Ken?

If you were wondering what role Chris is set to play, the former villa alum has also now confirmed that he'll be playing 'a Ken'.

We first caught wind of this iconic crossover at the long-awaited London premiere of Barbie (on Wednesday, July 12, 2023), when the cast stepped onto the red carpet, and were of course, greeted by Amelia Dimoldenberg—poised to interview them.

Upon meeting Chris, Amelia asked him how he went about prepping to become Ken, with the former islander revealing that his American cousin actually helped him out with his lines. What's more, you can also spy him in a group shot with the rest of the cast...

(L to R) Chris Taylor, Connor Swindells, Hannah Khalique-Brown, Mette Towley, Tom Stourton, Alexandra Shipp, America Ferrera, Sharon Rooney, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Ncuti Gatwa, Ana Cruz Kayne, Greta Gerwig, Issa Rae, Nicola Coughlan, Jamie Demetriou, Hari Nef, Dua Lipa, Simu Liu, Will Ferrell, Emma Mackey, Rob Brydon and Emerald Fennell attend The European Premiere Of "Barbie" at Cineworld Leicester Square on July 12, 2023 in London, England.

And while this all might seem very random, it actually makes a lot of sense, as Margot Robbie, aka Barbie herself is a huge Love Island UK fan—you'll even spy her in a villa-themed Barbie advert when you watch Love Island 2023 on ITV2 and ITVX. Plus, she even met and took selfies with a ton of former islanders at the London premiere, exhibit A...

A post shared by Davide Sanclimenti (@davidesancli)
A photo posted by on

Alas, there's no word yet on what Chris's Ken role will entail, but we can't wait to see what Chris brings to the vill-... err we mean, dream house!

Naomi is a Lifestyle News Writer with the Women's Lifestyle team, where she covers everything from entertainment to fashion and beauty, as well as TikTok trends for Woman&Home, after previously writing for My Imperfect Life and GoodTo. Interestingly though, Naomi actually has a background in design, having studied illustration at Plymouth University but lept into the media world in 2020, after always having a passion for writing and earned her Gold Standard diploma in Journalism with the NCTJ.

Before working for Future Publishing’s Lifestyle News team, she worked in the Ad production team. Here she wrote and designed adverts on all sorts of things, which then went into print magazines across all genres. Now, when she isn’t writing articles on celebs, fashion trends, or the newest shows on Netflix, you can find her drinking copious cups of coffee, drawing and probably online shopping.