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Why 'Love Island' Viewers Need To Realise Nobody Has Any Loyalty In This Game

Why 'Love Island' Viewers Need To Realise Nobody Has Any Loyalty In This Game

The whole point of 'Love Island' is to couple up and win money - so why are we so surprised when contestants switch loyalties overnight?

Deborah Cicurel

Deborah Cicurel

Last night, the nation watched aghast as Love Island's most 'solid' couples Michael and Amber, Curtis and Amy, and Anna and Jordan all had their heads turned by the hot new arrivals in Casa Amor.

Twitter soon came alive with heartbroken fans tweeting their shock at how quickly Islanders like Michael, Curtis and Anna appeared to be moving on, while applauding Tommy and Molly-Mae for staying strong with their loyalties to each other.

The girls couldn't be happier about heading to Casa Amor (credit: ITV2)
The girls couldn't be happier about heading to Casa Amor (credit: ITV2)

Michael and Curtis were both condemned for their wandering eyes, while fans watched Anna crack on with new boy Ovie despite previously being secure in her coupling with Jordan.

Just a few days ago, fans were shocked when Danny dumped Yewande for Arabella, with fans pointing out he'd recently insisted his head could never be turned by a new Islander.

We watch these romances every single night, we laugh at the tweets about them and we become emotionally invested in the couples, to the point that we're distraught when it doesn't work out. We also regularly accuse the contestants of "playing a game" and insincere in their intentions of finding a partner.

Anna appears to be moving on from Jordan as she 'cracks on' with Ovie (
ITV2)

But while it's easy to get caught up in the on-screen romances and imagine that the coupling up ritual around the fire pit is indicative of long-lasting love that will eventually lead to marriage, babies and a lifetime together, it's high time we all pulled ourselves together and accepted that sadly, Love Island isn't really about love at all.

While it might be cynical to say that the Islanders are only going in there for a million Instagram followers, a blue tick, a clothing promotion deal and an onslaught of club appearances, the fact is that not one couple from last year's series - even the winners, Jack and Dani - are still together. From 2017, only two couples are still loved up.

That's not to say that the couples don't have genuine feelings for each other at the time, and we can see why it would be difficult to go from living in a sunny Mallorca bubble, where you don't need to work, cook or clean, to living in the real world, where you might live across the country from each other, and work, family and real-life commitments come into play.

Despite being besotted with Amber, Michael seems interested in Joanna (
ITV2)

But sadly, the success rate of previous couples - and the rate at which the Islanders are dumping each other - should give us some indication that being in love on Love Island is just not the same as being in love in the real world.

Most of the contestants are in their early twenties and are under immense pressure to find their soulmate in just a few days, or risk being dumped from the island. Even in cases where there is a genuine connection, the couples still risk being split up, as in the cases of Joe and Lucie, Elma and Anton and Danny and Yewande.

Rather than being given a bit of time to mourn the end of the relationship, as you would in the real world, the contestants are expected to quickly move on, or, once again, risk being dumped from the island.

Curtis appears to be having doubts about Amy (
ITV2)

Then there's the added pressure of having every throwaway comment, down moment or argument recorded, watched and judged by the nation - and living in total isolation from it all, until you go home and get met with a storm of tweets from people who think they know you, but in fact have just seen an edited version of you.

We hope that some of the contestants will find love in this year's series. The cute dates, kisses by the fire pit and moments like Tommy cuddling Molly-Mae's cuddly toy make us hope the romances are for real.

But in our heart of hearts, we know that once the summer comes to an end, these romances will fizzle out and all we'll see of the contestants is Instagram posts telling us to use code AMBER20 for a great deal at Boohoo.

So tonight, if Michael, or Curtis, or even, God forbid, Tommy, kiss another girl, let's remember that in Love Island, more often than not, it's not really about love. It's a television game show with a monetary prize at the end. Playing a game is what the Islanders are there to do.

Featured Image Credit: ITV2

Topics: TV News, TV Entertainment