Love Island review: Gemma vs Ekin-Su – choose your fighter

Love Island viewers were treated to a battle royale-level drama last night. In the blue corner: Ekin-Su, who, after promising to keep a conversation about Gemma having her head turned private, proceeds immediately to tell the entire villa. In the red corner: Gemma, who is, unsurprisingly, furious.

It all starts because Dami, cementing himself as a comedic fan favourite, goes full clairvoyant and reads the minds of Ekin-Su and Gemma. With Gemma, Dami suggests that Luca likes her more than she likes him and that a bombshell who she connected with on a higher level could cause “confusion” for her. Gemma agrees that Dami is “not far wrong”. In an immense game of Chinese whispers, Ekin-Su tells Jacques and Paige, who tell Gemma that Ekin-Su has told them. Keeping up?

The last to find out, of course, is poor Luca who is left grappling with the knowledge that he likes Gemma more than he likes her. Fortunately, Luca likes Gemma *so* much that he is willing to overlook all this. The villain, of course, is not Gemma but Ekin-Su who faces a double-threat grilling from the footballer’s daughter and the fisherman. A good villain never accepts fault, though, and Ekin-Su plays the part with pantomime aplomb. “Why is it me again?” she asks the audience from the Beach Hut. “How is everything coming to me? I’ve done nothing wrong but its so easy to blame me in here, isn’t it?” It is.

She might not be a goodie, but there’s no denying the blockbuster value that Ekin-Su adds to the villa. The moment once again has fans questioning: “Where would this series be without Ekin-Su?” As such, viewers are also clambering for her and Davide to rekindle their romance. Despite his refusals when beseeched by his fellow islanders, Davide cannot help a wry smile at the thought of “unfinished business” with the Turkish actor. “I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know what it is, but there is some sort of chemistry with Davide. Every time we’re together, it’s weird, something happens,” she admits. Davide’s quotability and Ekin-Su’s drama could launch them power couple status if the fans are given what they want.

The drama melts away when focusing on the other islanders. It’s all disappointingly well-resolved as Tash decides to go all-in on Andrew and Paige lets Jay down ever so gently. The mild manners are punctuated by a fantastically childish tantrum by Jacques, who pointedly puts his shoes back on and storms off after Paige says she’ll go for a swim with him and ends up chatting with Jay.

One can’t help but feel sorry for new girl Antigoni who has fitted in well to the villa but is suffering from a distinct lack of options. Even more so, Danica! Where the hell has Danica gone? It must be time for Casa Amor soon; those two will be praying for it.