Love Island: Liam Reardon's hometown celebrates win - BBC News
Bricklayer Liam Reardon has had a cocktail named after him and he's been offered a free pasty.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Liam Reardon's family celebrated in one of their hometown's pubs

An offer of a free pasty and a cocktail named after him is how Liam Reardon's hometown has celebrated his Love Island win.

The Merthyr Tydfil bricklayer was crowned winner alongside partner Millie Court in Monday evening's final.

And as Liam, 22, basks in his newfound reality show fame, people in his Welsh hometown have been celebrating too.

Jorge Dascencao, who owns Liam's local pub, The New Crown, said it brought the whole town together.

He said a Love Island-themed party they hosted to celebrate the show's final sold out in 15 minutes.

During the event, the pub was kitted out with palm trees, catchphrases from the hit ITV show, such as "I've got a text", and cheese boards.

"Merthyr is a town that people will come together when they need to come to together," he told BBC Radio Wales.

Millie Court and Liam Reardon were crowned winners of Love Island

Liam's favourite cocktail bar Hardie's has even created a custom drink called "The Milliam" - after the couple's joint nickname on the show - which he is "welcome to enjoy" when he returns.

And endorsement of the victory has extended beyond Merthyr's hospitality industry.

Consultant hepatologist Dai Samuel tweeted that he was "chuffed to bits" over Liam's win.

This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post by Dr Dai Samuel This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Elsewhere, department store Trago Mills - which has a store in the Welsh valley's town - has offered Liam a free pasty and £50 to spend in-store.

Liam's win also put him on a par with Amber Davies, from Denbigh in north Wales, after she won the hit reality show alongside then-partner Kem Cetinay in 2017.

The 24-year-old has gone on to forge a successful showbiz career - appearing in West Ends shows as well as a CBBC children's show.

Other Welsh reality stars include 2005 Big Brother winner Rachel Rice, from Pontypool and Alana Spencer, from Aberystwyth, who won The Apprentice in 2016.

Former Miss Wales Imogen Thomas, lifeguard Glyn Wise, hairdresser Helen Adams and junior doctor Alex George all found fame after appearing on Big Brother and Love Island respectively.

Former Big Brother contestant Imogen Thomas found fame after the show

While some contestants have used the platform to propel them to further fame - others have returned to normality.

Both Glyn and Rachel are now teachers and live in relative obscurity while Dr Alex and Amber remain in the public eye.