Love Island review: Recoupling leaves two girls single ahead of Gemma Owen’s ex-boyfriend entering the villa

There is a moment of genuine sweetness in amongst all the mundanity in the latest episode of Love Island. Andrew and Tasha, who were coupled up by the public as the show debuted on Monday, are both feeling bruised after they flirted with other contestants during a game. Tasha admits that she is scared of seeming too available to Andrew, as doing that in the past has always left her open to getting hurt. Andrew hugs her, and tells her “communication is key”. Granted, it’s simple stuff. But it’s a reminder of how the show can demonstrate genuine growth between people.

There’s not much sweetness to be found elsewhere. Luca is intent on getting with Gemma, whether Davide “looks like a Greek god or not”. In the last episode, he had “pulled Gemma for a chat”, but now Davide is upset with Luca for not warning him he was going to do this first. It’s a conversation we’ve seen play out many times on Love Island before. It is not interesting.

“I don’t wanna be in love triangle,” Luca later moans in the Beach Hut. “I want a line with me at one end and Gemma at the other, it’s as simple as that.” This clarity is hardly useful in creating suspense for the recoupling later on, when Luca must decide between Gemma and Paige.

At the halfway point of the episode, Liam, who has been conspicuously absent until now, gathers all the contestants around the firepit. He tells them he hasn’t been giving “100 per cent Liam”. “I’ve been thinking long and hard about this, so yeah, I’ve made the decision that I am going to leave the villa,” he says. There are tears and brief goodbyes. Gemma has a chat with him as she feels bad that her choosing to split with him and couple up with Davide might have influenced his decision. They hash it out.

Liam’s departure means that at the end of the recoupling, two girls will be left single. So all the Islanders start to furiously “put it on” each other so as not to lose face (yeah, yeah alright, and to find love, I guess).

Ekin-Su’s method of attack is to ask Davide if he wants to exercise his leg muscles with her (she reckons this particular work-out boosts testosterone levels in men). She might be right, as in the end Davide ditches the weights and pops her up on his shoulders instead, squatting and grunting as he does so.

When the time comes to do the recoupling, it’s down to the boys to choose which girl they want to be with. It’s not a surprise that Dami chooses Amber, Andrew chooses Tasha and Ikenna chooses Indiyah (even though Afia had shown interest in him). Luca gets to choose before Davide, meaning he has a chance to go for Gemma. That leaves Davide to choose Ekin-Su, and Paige and Afia are left single.

In the final moments, we get a glimpse of the new bombshell. It’s Gemma’s ex-boyfriend. Uh oh, Luca, looks like your straight line might be about to get a few dents in it.