Love guru 'Dr' Marcel Somerville talks about his romance with Gabby and how he feels about being called a national treasure.

Marcel Somerville, the likeable love guru on ITV2's Love Island who tried to help emotional contestants through their romantic ups and downs, is once again putting his self-taught counselling skills to good use.

With lightning speed, Love Island finalist Dr Marcel - as he was nicknamed on the hit series after helping the likes of Kem Cetinay, Camilla Thurlow and Sam Gowland through relationship dramas - has rushed out a guide on all matters of the heart.

Dr Marcel's Little Book Of Big Love is a flick-through book which offers tips on all things romantic, accompanied by snippets of his own love life and most famously his relationship with Gabby Allen, who he met on the show.

Today, muscles toned beneath a fitted black crew neck jumper and black jeans, a subtle piece of silver bling around his neck, a chunky gold watch around his wrist and diamond studs in his ears, it's clear why Marcel, 31, became one of the favourites in the villa.

"I've found a new lease of life in my therapy skills," he says, beaming. "There was a point in my life when I thought about becoming a life coach. It all makes sense now. It's definitely something I'll look into. Maybe I could do a chat show and people could come to me with their problems and I could talk through things."

Today, he doesn't ask if I know he used to be a member of Blazin' Squad, but admits that his feet have hardly touched the ground since landing back in the UK. He has a new presenting job on This Morning, a string of personal appearances lined up, a one-off gig with Blazin' Squad and has recently launched his solo career with his debut single Someone.

"I walked in the villa and I was Marcel, I was in the villa and I was still Marcel, then I walked out of the villa and I was Dr Marcel," he says.

"Becoming a doctor has changed my life. It's insane! The response I've received from being in there has been amazing. It's nice to know that people have got to know me and they've really warmed to me, but it is crazy.

The rapper, DJ and music producer reflects: "Before I went in there, I had 2,000 Instagram followers and now I've got 970,000. It's nice to just be loved."

The sudden celebrity has changed his life, he says. His Instagram posts are used by online papers and magazines within minutes of him posting them, he can't travel on the Tube and he and Gabby were recently mobbed when they tried to go shopping in London.

"We are both trying to adapt to this new level of fame and it is intense. We've just got to learn how to deal with what's happening now, but it will calm down. I've been famous before so I know how it works, although it's more intense now with social media."

His lack of modesty doesn't offset his charisma and chivalrous nature. In the book he mentions he's slept with between 200 and 300 women, although he points out that it's probably nearer the lower figure.

"Gabby knew that and has always said it's a big number, but everyone's got their history. She wasn't bothered by it, well not that she let on."

They don't argue, he says, because they talk about things. "If you communicate about things, they get cleared up so much more easily than if you let everything build up inside you. I've always been a good communicator."

So the question on everyone's lips is, 'Are Marcel and Gabby going to tie the knot?'

"First when we came out, it was, 'Are you going to have sex?'" They've done that.

"Two weeks later it's, 'Are you getting married?' It's crazy. Me and Gabby are deeply in love with each other but it's still early and you can't jump into marriage when you've only known someone for nine weeks. It's a bit of a rush job but there's potential there for us to do everything that a normal couple would do in the near future."

Marcel explains he likes to go at a steady pace. "That's one of the main things in my book - always keep the pacing in a relationship right. You don't want to rush it. Give it a few months and we'll see how things are going but I feel that things are going in the right direction now and I'm really excited about that. We've just got to be chilled with it, now."

Blazin' Squad are doing a one-off gig in London in November but at the moment he isn't interested in reforming the band permanently.

"There's nothing to say that in the future the band might not do a song or two and maybe a tour, but that's not going to be happening right now. But for the next year or so, I'll be focusing on my own stuff."

Gabby isn't the first serious girlfriend Marcel has had. He dated a girl for seven years, from the age of 17, until his career with the band and time on the road partly led to the break up.

"That relationship ended because it got to a point where we were both in different spaces and needed to focus on ourselves. You do grow apart. I was always trying to focus on my music but she didn't want me to pursue that kind of thing. When I was in the band, there were always girls trying to be with me."

So, if he went on tour again, would Gabby go with him?

"Gabby's quite welcome to come with me. I couldn't ask for anything more. She completely trusts me and I completely trust her."

Does he see himself as a future agony uncle or doctor?

"It's what my mum's always wanted," he says, only half joking. "She always wanted me to be a doctor and now there's living proof."

Before he went on the show, his mother advised him to just be himself, he recalls.

"When no-one stepped forward for me on the first day, I thought, 'Oh my God, my mum's heart's going to be broken!' And then, as the weeks went on I was still in there. I was called a national treasure. That felt great, I'm not going to lie."

Dr Marcel's Little Book Of Big Love by Marcel Somerville is published by Blink, priced £12.99. Available August 24