Latest Love Island recoupling sends shockwaves through the villa

The dramatic episode saw Shaq Muhammad lost for words and Will Young in tears.
Contestants are to have their social media accounts disabled during Love Island this year (ITV)
Connie Evans16 February 2023
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

The latest Love Island recoupling has sent shockwaves through the main villa after the islanders were reunited following the end of Casa Amor.

Thursday night’s episode of the hit ITV2 dating show saw Shaq Muhammad lost for words, Will Young in tears over Jessie Wynter and Olivia Hawkins lock horns with Kai Fagan.

The popular and drama-inducing Casa Amor segment of the reality show drew to a close as the girls and boys were given the decision of whether to remain in their original couples or recouple with a new arrival.

“There’s literally a storm coming tonight” predicted actress and ring-girl Olivia ahead of the recoupling.

The islanders were later left in shock after Tanya Manhenga decided to return to the villa with Martin Akinola despite having been coupled up with 24-year-old airport security officer Shaq since the beginning of the series.

Ahead of Tanya’s return, Shaq had told host Maya Jama and his fellow islanders that he felt “a piece of me has been missing” as he declared his love for the 23-year-old biomedical sciences student.

Following Tanya’s return with 27-year-old software engineer Martin, Shaq admitted: “Bit lost for words to be honest.

“I think I’ve been honest with my feelings since day one, I actually meant it when I said I love you, but I guess not everyone means it when they say something.”

Tanya attempted to explain her decision, replying: “I went to Casa Amor thinking I wasn’t going to find any vibes… But I think it would be silly for me to not give it more time, and it’s definitely not the end.”

To which a dumbfounded Shaq said: “It’s the end for me.”

He added: “That’s what I get for being the nice guy, they always finish last.”

Elsewhere during the episode, farmer and TikTok star Will, 23, became emotional as he explained his decision to recouple with personal trainer and influencer Jessie, 26, despite having shared a kiss with bombshell Layla Al-Momani.

Will told Jama: “The last couple of days have really been eating me alive… Everyone has seen I’ve not been myself.”

He added: “I have let myself down and I really hope I haven’t let Jessie down too much.”

After choosing to remain in his couple with Jessie, she returned to the villa, also single and looking overjoyed, telling Will: “I am so happy… I honestly knew I could trust you.”

However, tensions grew after Will revealed he had not been completely faithful to Jessie.

“I feel like I’ve let myself down and you down… I honestly feel like the worst human,” he said as he began crying.

A shocked Jessie replied: “I actually don’t have any words right now… I really didn’t think you would have done that.”

Relations were also frosty between former partners Olivia and 24-year-old teacher Kai, who both opted to recouple with new arrivals.

After admitting it was one of the “toughest” decisions he’d had to make, Kai opted to recouple with Sanam Harrinanan, meanwhile Olivia re-entered the main villa with Maxwell Samuda.

After noticing Kai’s decision to recouple, Olivia said: “It’s very telling, I can’t say I’m shocked.”

As Jama talked to both islanders and their new partners, Olivia continued to display her disappointment, telling a confused Kai: “Missing me already? Clearly not enough.”

She later added: “His loss, my gain.”

Meanwhile, Casey O’Gorman chose to remain in a couple with Claudia Fogarty, Ron Hall stayed loyal to long-term love interest Lana Jenkins and Tom Clare chose to stick by Samie Elishi.

Love Island continues on ITV2 and ITVX.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in