Love Island 2021 review: Millie and Liam are back on track but the magic is ruined

Society, the church, and personal banking phonelines all tell you that Sunday is a day of rest. For those lucky enough not to work in the gig economy, Sundays are mostly spent recovering from nine to five grind, lying lazily in bed or welcoming in the week anew: fresh and ready to begin. During Love Island season, this is not the case.

After the emotional f***ery of Friday night’s episode, the Sunday scaries are more intense than ever before. Twenty-four hours was simply not enough time to process both the mental turmoil of watching Faye sabotage herself over and over, or my Ofcom complaint – written in green ink, like a pro. Instead, we had to agonise privately, saving our moments of rest to contemplate the potential of a future without Feddy.

Unfortunately, Sunday’s episode (8 August) looked like it sealed the deal, Teddy’s chat with Faye not providing the resolution he was so hoping for. It felt like after Friday the cards for Teddy and Faye had already been dealt, Faye’s inability to trust in Teddy or to see past the anxiety-fuelled cheating victim narrative she had fallen prey to, meant this was a hard sell from the get-go. Nonetheless, Teddy persisted, attempting to break through Faye’s defences and find a clear answer. That all of this could have been avoided only makes the situation more infuriating; a 20-second clip from Casa Amor tapping into Faye’s insecurities and effectively breaking (my favourite) couple in a quick flash. Thank you producers, but I’m still not voting for Jiberty.

To add further salt in the wound, it looked like Liam and Millie were back on track. With a rare outside-the-villa outing in the mix, The Island Vibes club proved the perfect backdrop for their becoming exclusive. Though Millie and Liam may be happy, there is something hard to swallow about their reunion. It is clear that their chemistry is off the charts, the sexual energy between them so powerful and intensive that every second of airtime feels too intimate, too sensual. Yet the problem is that the magic is ruined. We know that Liam is a cad. We know that Millie deserves better. We all know that, and I think maybe, so does she.

But all was not as it seemed. More aptly named The Island Bad Vibes Club, the evening turned sour when Laura Whitmore to made her third appearance, taking a cue from season five’s Lucie (IYKYO) in the hairdressing stakes. Of course, a fake club that looks more like a children’s party imitation of Wayne’s Lineker’s Ocean Beach Bar is never going to bring good news, with the bottom six islanders up for a speedy elimination. With staple favourites Kaz, Tyler and Jake suddenly finding themselves in the firing line, it looks like there’s the potential for things to start going very, very wrong.

I only hope that Love Island eventually has the decency to air which boy and girl is being booted off on the same episode a dumping is first mentioned. Producers, hear my cry. My nerves simply can’t take it.