Love Island UK star Antigoni Buxton selected to represent Cyprus at Eurovision Song Contest 2026

Love Island UK star Antigoni Buxton, who featured in season 11 of the series in 2022 as a bombshell, has been selected to represent Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.

The announcement was made by Cypriot broadcaster RIK on November 6, 2025, in a joint Instagram post that Antigoni would represent the nation in Vienna for the 70th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest!

Antigoni is a 30-year-old London-born and raised singer-songwriter who became especially popular after appearing on Love Island UK back in 2022, later pursuing her musical career and becoming a fan favourite singer to represent Cyprus at Eurovision.

Antigoni's journey on Love Island UK 2022 was short-lived as she got voted off early

Cyprus was the first country to reveal its artist back in 2017 and 2025 and 2026 is no different as Cyprus is the first country to reveal its artist representing at the Eurovision Song Contest scheduled to be held on May 12, 2026, till May 16, 2026. The host country for the 2026 season of the contest is Austria, as they are the 2025 champions. 

Cyprus named the London-raised vocalist Antigoni Buxton through an internal process by public broadcaster CYBC (RIK) that evaluated eight finalists, including chart-topping singers Josephine and Giorgos Perris.

CYBC and Eurovision made a joint Instagram post on November 6, 2025, captioning it with:

We have our first artist for Vienna 2026! 🇨🇾 Antigoni will represent Cyprus at the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in May  #Eurovision2026 #Eurovision70

Antigoni replied on that post, declaring: I’m so honoured 🥹 Cyprus I will make you proud 🇨🇾

As per reports, the announcement was surprising as the singer named Josephine was originally the frontrunner to represent Cyprus. However, the opportunity went to Antigoni,

The singer grew up in London, but she is of Greek-Cypriot descent and can speak Greek fluently. She is the daughter of British television presenter and singer Tonia Buxton.

This isn’t Antigoni’s first attempt at fulfilling her Eurovision goals. The Love Island alum has already made previous bids to represent Greece in both 2023 and 2025. Earlier this year, she shifted her nation toward Cyprus, openly sharing her ambition to wave the Cypriot flag at the competition.

Antigoni gave her first interview as Cyprus’s representative for Eurovision 2026 on CYBC’s main news bulletin, opening up on her unexpected selection and her connection to Cyprus, and her vision for the performance in the contest:

You can’t imagine how happy and proud I am to represent Cyprus. It’s something I’ve dreamed of since I was very young, and I still can’t believe it’s happening.

I visit Cyprus often, as much as I can, to see my grandparents — but now I’ll have even more reasons to come!

I’d really love to have Cypriot words in the song, something danceable, something that suits me and reflects our culture. That’s what I want to show at Eurovision. My goal is to make Cyprus proud.

Antigoni first captured the public’s attention as a contestant on Love Island UK in 2022, where her confident personality and charm quickly made her a fan favorite.

She entered the villa as a bombshell on Day 17 of season 8. She went on a few dates with Dami Hope, Davide Sanclimenti, and Jay Younger before eventually coupling up with Davide and later Charlie Radnedge.

However, her time on the show was brief, as she was voted off just eight days later when the islanders chose her and Charlie to leave.

Since her reality TV phase, Antigoni has been focusing on her music career, gaining impressive success. Her singles Red Flag (2022) and Tomboy (2023) both surpassed one million streams.

She has also performed as a backing vocalist on Marina Satti’s world tour and most recently opened for Eleni Foureira, the artist who famously represented Cyprus at Eurovision 2018.

Stay tuned for more updates.