Curtis Pritchard and Maura Higgins have officially become boyfriend and girlfriend.

Curtis Pritchard and Maura Higgins

Curtis Pritchard and Maura Higgins

The 23-year-old pro dancer asked the 28-year-old former grid girl "out" during a romantic dinner in London, and Curtis - who met Maura when they took part in ITV2 dating show 'Love Island' earlier this summer - admitted he took his time because he wants their relationship to "last forever".

She said: "He asked and I said yes obviously.

"He took me away for a weekend break, and he asked me out over dinner in London the next day."

Speaking in a joint interview with OK! magazine, he said: "I want something that's going to last forever. There's no point in rushing things.

"We've only known each other a short amount of time."

This comes after Maura admitted just a few weeks ago that Curtis was yet to be her official boyfriend.

Quizzed on whether the pro dancer was her boyfriend, she replied: "He's not. We haven't seen each other in two weeks but that's because of our hectic schedules, but I mean, I'm happy with the pace we're going and I think he is as well.

"I mean, it's not hard. I don't find it hard because I'm kept busy and he is too.

"Obviously it's very different after coming out of the villa where you were with each other 24/7.

"But coming out, it's a whole new relationship. You're not going to see each other every single day."

Maura previously slammed critics of her relationship with Curtis, insisting just because they don't post "everything" on social media, it doesn't mean they're not "happy".

She said: "We just don't put everything on social media - and I'm not going to just to prove to other people we're happy. I don't need to prove how happy we are.

"We know we're happy. We spend so much time together. We make time for each other. It's just so nice having nights together just chilling and watching a movie.

"In the villa you can't do that or do anything like that. It's all normal stuff.

"We're just taking every day as it comes. I don't like to plan ahead, but when stuff comes my way then I'll decide if it's for me or not."