Love Island may be over but the drama keeps on coming, as just two weeks on from the show’s nail biting conclusion which crowned fan favourites Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and Davide Sanclimenti as the 2022 winners, the rollercoaster of highs and lows continues to grip fans around the world.
Faced with everything from awkward reunions and explosive rows, through to bullying claims, break-ups and even a few huge money making deals thrown in for good measure – it’s been a busy few weeks for the Islanders since leaving the villa.
So what exactly has happened since the show’s 8th series drew to a close?
Bullying Row
One of the biggest pieces of drama to rock the Islanders since leaving the villa, has been a slew of bullying claims made against contestants Jacques O’Neill, Luca Bish and Dami Hope.
Complaints from fans accusing the duo of bullying actually first occurred in the early weeks of the show, as many took umbrage with the way the pair seemed to gang up on Ekin-Su for no apparent reason.
After witnessing a series of comments that saw Jacques O’Neill brand her a “headache”, several viewers even reported what they saw as bullying to regulator Ofcom to complain.
More complaints later followed towards the end of the series as Love Island viewers became increasingly concerned about the hostility towards Tasha Ghouri, with the behaviour displayed by Luca Bish and Dami Hope during the Snog Marry Pie challenge earning almost 2000 complaints outright.
Speaking on the Secure The Insecure podcast, Billy Brown and Josh Le Grove confirmed that it made for some uncomfortable viewing.
Billy said: “I can see why people are saying about the bullying. Some people in the villa, the way they were acting, yeah, they might be fed up or annoyed or something, but especially to the girls – don’t go and keep hurting that girl constantly, such as Tasha.
“Don’t go and just keep going at her, going at her, going at her. To see that, it’s not nice. I don’t like anyone feeling out of place or like they can’t go speak to someone alone.
“Luca and Dami, for instance, they just constantly go for Tasha. They might see it as banter, but when I spoke to Tasha, one night she was crying. I saw her over there by herself and went up to her.”
However more complaints followed since exiting the villa, with bombshell Remi Lambert opening up about how Islanders Luca and Jaques treated him during his time on the show.
He said: “ (Jacques) was literally just taking the mick out of everyone. Everyone says it’s just banter, like it’s banter until a certain point. If he constantly does something, obviously you’re going to get annoyed.
“I gave him three strikes and when it got to the third strike, I told him, ‘Yo, you’ve got to stop now’. It’s not right, you’re doing this to everyone else. It might be fine in rugby, but you’re in Love Island, mate. I’m trying to find someone. I don’t know what you’re doing but cause commotion, you know what I mean?”
His claims were later substantiated after it appeared that Luca and Jacques mocked him during an Instagram live broadcast, after believing a spoof account was actually that of the star.
During the live, someone commented and asked the two to have an MC battle, to which fishmonger Luca said: “We’re not MCs, we need Remi in here for that”.
Remi then seemingly commented: “What you boys saying about me and my rapping?” and Jacques replied: “I said it’s really really good, you should turn pro.”
After Jacques’ comment, the two shared a look and began to laugh.
Addressing the mockery on social media, Remi explained that this behaviour was a perfect example of what he had suffered while on the show.
"Everyone said I lied about the way I was treated in that villa, but this here is an example of what was going on whilst I was in there,” he wrote.
"Don’t know why they wasn’t kicked out for their behaviour to be honest. It’s not banter, it’s clear signs of bullying."
“I wish everyone could see all of the crap I went through. There’s 24 hours in a day and yous only seen like about 3-5 10 second clips of me out of the whole day, so you could never tell what was truly happening.”
The star added: “Jacques said bad things about my appearance and the way I speak, whilst Luca was encouraging it. After about 3 strikes from Jacques I told him I won’t be speaking to him anymore in the villa.
"Later on he tried apologising to me but like 10 minutes after he started with the snide comments again. I’ve tried to avoid this guy multiple times but he always ends up starting again. I don’t know when it will stop.”
Following the claims, Jacques went on to release a lengthy statement and public apology, as he confessed he is now going to “get help” for his behaviour.
He wrote: "I just want to acknowledge the situation that's happening right now and apologise if my behaviour has caused offence or been misinterpreted over the last few weeks.
"I genuinely have no bad feelings towards anyone and I've not meant for anything to come across that way at all. It was not my intention and I'm genuinely sorry if it has.
"Life has been very overwhelming recently and admittedly I've probably not handled myself in the best possible way. I take full responsibility for my actions. I'm aware I'm far from perfect and that there is work that needs to be done on myself."
Break Ups
Just days after leaving the villa, Deji Adeniyi and Lacey Edwards were said to have called time on their relationship, as the spark between them soon fizzled out when they returned to reality.
Yet it wasn’t just the loss of chemistry that made the couple part ways, as there appeared to be some "mugging off" taking place prior to officially parting ways.
During this year’s tense Reunion episode, it was revealed that the couple hadn’t been on a single date since leaving the villa, with Deji having failed to make the effort to connect with Lacey.
While this may have been salvageable, it was another revelation that may have served the killing blow to their relationship, after a source told The Sun that Deji had actually slept with Coco Lodge, causing further tension between the pair.
An insider told the publication: “Earlier in the week Chyna told a number of people that Coco had slept with Deji.
“Lacy was absolutely mortified and was giving Deji the cold shoulder all night.
“Summer decided to bring it up with Coco while they were arguing about something else and all hell broke loose.”
On Screen Bust-Up
This year’s reunion show also saw further tensions rise between Coco Lodge and Summer Botwe, as they appeared to engage in a heated confrontation during the show, which left host Darren Harriott having to intervene.
The row all started as host Darren cheekily asked the islanders who had hooked up with who.
“Come on, spill the tea – whose been getting off with who?” He asked.
“Where do I start? Me, Jay, George. You’d love to know wouldn’t you?” replied Billy Brown cheekily.
To which Summer chimed in: “I know someone who wishes they would have got with someone, but we move…”
As the audience in the studio responded, Coco could be seen shaking her head as she commented: ‘It’s all B******t.”
She then told Summer: “Oh it’s only banter. If you can’t handle a big personality don’t go on reality TV.”
Summer then quickly jabbed back: “Friends don’t say certain things, but alright.”
As Coco continued to shrug it off, Summer decided to escalate things further as she ominously added: "If you wanna talk about you, we can…"
"It was a joke," Coco replied, as the comment had been a direct reference to her time on the show, when she said she wished she'd slept with Josh when they were dumped from the villa.
Unwilling to let the subject drop, Summer was quick to respond as she was determined to get the last word in: "I just wanna clarify I never fight over a boy coz there's no competition!”
Noticing things were getting a little out of hand, Darren swiftly intervened and asked Coco about her blossoming friendship with Jack Keating instead, as the pair have been seen growing closer since leaving the villa.
Romance Blossoms
It hasn’t all been doom and gloom for the Islanders however, with some of this years dumped contestants going on to find love outside of the villa, including smitten sweethearts Josh Le Grove and Summer Botwe who were recently spotted holding hands while on a romantic date.
The former islanders had a connection in the Love Island villa after their previous couplings with Danica Taylor and Dami Hope came to an end, and were able to properly explore it when they returned to normality after the show.
They weren’t the only couple to find love either, as dumped contestants Danica Taylor and Jamie Allen were able to properly embrace their blossoming romance together after coupling up in the final days of their time on the show before being eliminated.
Fully invested in her new relationship, Danica even cheekily quipped in an interview with new magazine: “We’ll have cute kids!” as she looked to the future with her new flame.
Fashion Deals
It wouldn’t be Love Island without a lucrative fashion deal, and this year, so far three bombshells have managed to scoop the coveted deals, which are rumoured to be worth at least six digit figures a piece.
First up is winner Ekin-Su, who is said to have bagged herself a deal with Oh Polly for over £1million. The chic brand primarily focuses on luxury elegance with a purse friendly price tag, and they were reportedly so keen for the Turkish actress to promote their brand, they offered her the biggest deal in Love Island history.
Gemma Owen also appears to have signed a six figure deal with fashion giant BooHoo, with the star spotted in Central Manchester near to the brand’s head office after the reported signing.
The star, who also owns her own swimwear brand OG Beachwear, is said to be the new face of the brand after her stint in the villa, where she came a respectable second with partner Luca Bish.
2022 also saw Tasha Ghouri become the first ever Love islander to sign with a company promoting pre-loved garments instead of fast fashion.
The dancer and proud deaf advocate, was announced as the new face of a partnership with eBay, as the brand hopes to promote a more sustainable way of shopping, after the businesses’ success as this year’s partner sponsor of the show itself.
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