Love Island catch up: 3 talking points after Mike ditches Jess for Leanne and Ollie and Paige fall out

The third episode saw one of the twins regretting her decision to couple up with a copper

Love Island: Leanne tells Mike she'll 'follow him wherever he goes'

The latest episode of Love Island saw some couples grow closer than ever while others hit their first real rocky patch.

Sophie and Connor, along with Siannise and Nas, were the only pairings to avoid drama completely in an hour that showed the fall-out from the twins’ arrival in the villa unfold.

Here are the main talking points…

1. Mike faced the toughest decision since Brexit

Mike was flinging around statistics like nobody’s business in tonight’s episode, saying he was 51% into Leanne and 49% into Jess. He held his own romantic referendum and, evidently, it was the closest shave since Brexit. After initially asking Leanne’s permission to share a bed with Jess, he then realised that he was missing his original partner and asked to have her back. She said yes. It was admittedly all quite sweet. Jess, however, found the fact Mike chose Leanne over her purely “shocking”.

2. Ollie and Paige had their first (and probably last) row

Paige got a bit fed up with Ollie in tonight’s episode because, after having previously discovered he had cheated on his ex multiple times, she then found out he lied to her about showing interest in Siannise. At the end of a tense discussion, Ollie said he didn’t think he was quite in the doghouse but that he was probably “bloody close”. Not that it really matters, seeing as he has quit the villa anyway.

3. Shaughna and Eve are in competition

If looks could kill, Eve would be in a sorry state right now after stealing Callum from Shaughna. Despite Callum not having the courtesy to go and talk to Shaughna after his date with Eve, Shaughna is not taking defeat lying down and has pledged to fight for his attention. “May the best woman win,” as she said.

The live blog is now closed...

Love Island's new series debuted to a significant drop in ratings compared to last season. Just over 2.5 million people tuned in for the launch on Sunday 12 January – 800,000 down on the number for last summer's series.

Love Island continues every night on ITV2 at 9pm.

[14 January 2020 18:00 · Ellie.Harrison]

Welcome to tonight's Love Island blog. We're back to offer you more eye-rolling and extreme wit as the Islanders continue their search for The One.

In last night's episode, we saw twins Jess and Eve enter the villa, squabble over Callum, and then end up stealing two boys from the original girls on the show.

Tonight, it's all about Ollie's sudden departure and the inevitable fall-out that will ensue as Jess and Eve face the wrath of Leanne and Shaughna.

[14 January 2020 18:30 · Ellie.Harrison]

Here are the biggest talking points from last night's episode to refresh your memory...

1: Love Island is in a bit of a rut

Banter, a kiss-and-tell game show, and a big choice at the end of the hour. Such is the formula to which Love Island has rigorously adhered across previous seasons and here we go again in South Africa. The problem is that, as yet, the series has yet to cough up a break-out personality to make us ignore how predictable it all is. Mike, the likeliest of lads, is the closest to a star so far. But even he is essentially thoughtful and sensible. Good for him – not great for ITV ratings you suspect.

2: Do half the contestants even want to be on Love Island?

Leanne woke from her trance long enough to snog Mike during the tea-based kiss-and-tell competition (yes that is a thing). Otherwise she seemed perfectly happy in the background. Ditto Sophie, Paige, Cheatin’ Ollie, Connor of the wonder-teeth…. All are clearly appreciative of the free winter break in South Africa. But none is visibly burning up with desire to win Love Island.

3: Will Jess and Eve turn on one another?

Flickers of tension broke out between the twins as they weighed up which of the boys they wanted to pick (both fancied Mike). Obviously nobody in the real world would want to see sisters falling out. But unless a wedge of some sort is driven through their alliance it’s hard to see where the contrived conflict that is the lifeblood of reality TV will come from. Shaughna looks properly annoyed with Callum – but he had no say in whether or not he was chosen so a split there hardly yields oodles of dramatic potential. Winter Love Island is in danger of freezing over slightly.

[14 January 2020 19:00 · Ellie.Harrison]

A preview of tonight's shenanigans...

[14 January 2020 19:45 · Ellie.Harrison]

Ollie's statement on leaving the villa...

"I have to be honest with myself, and everyone, that I do still love someone else. I have to follow my heart in this scenario and it would be wrong for me to ignore these feelings. At the end of the day, this is Love Island and it’s about finding love. If I carried on anything with Paige, or any other girl that might come into the villa, it wouldn’t be fair on them." 

[14 January 2020 20:30 · Ellie.Harrison]

...And his alternative statement

 

[14 January 2020 21:07 · Ellie.Harrison]

Classic first date chat Callum... 'don't be thrown by me kissing someone else'

[14 January 2020 21:17 · Ellie.Harrison]

The twins are going to feel the wrath of Shaughna when they get back to the villa...

[14 January 2020 21:19 · Ellie.Harrison]

All Nas wants is to be the Aladdin to Siannise's Jasmine - will never forget how wide that grin was when she planted the Disney dream in his head

[14 January 2020 21:21 · Ellie.Harrison]

The girls are nailing passive aggression right now

[14 January 2020 21:23 · Ellie.Harrison]

Connor's teeth. That is all.