Love Island’s Ope reveals how to say his name, and the backstory should make some feel guilty

Since the very first day he entered the Love Island villa, people have fiercely debated how to accurately pronounce Ope Sowande’s name.

Joining the Love Island cast on the first day, Ope said his name was pronounced like oh-pee. Despite that, people debated the pronunciation for weeks, with people going back to its Nigerian roots to get to the bottom of it.

Ope is a common nickname in Nigeria, but it usually comes from longer names like Opeyemi or Opeoluwa. It’s derived from the Nigerian words for “thanks,” “gratitude,” or “praise.”

From the second Ope pronounced his name like opi I’d seen enough #loveislanduk #loveisland pic.twitter.com/kgneFSUSgZ

— Tee ❦love island era❦ (@Mingoobies) June 1, 2026

People with Nigerian backgrounds shared their thoughts, as former Islander Deji Adeniyi said: “Man like Op-ee, not Op-eh! His name is Op-ee, that’s what he is, he is Op-ee.”

“Brudda came into the villa, said, ‘My name is Op-ee’. Sounds like a flipping slur, you need to lock in brother. When I tell people I’m from Cambridge, that is what they expect from me, but I’m not that way,” another Nigerian TikToker said. “They need to trap that brother in south London for five years, no escape, because what has happened to that young man, young black man…”

Well, Ope himself has finally commented.

Here’s how to pronounce Ope Sowande’s name, from the man himself

To be frank, people have been particularly cruel about how Ope pronounces his name. Some have accused him of “whitewashing” a Nigerian name, but the backstory should make people rethink their comments.

Laughing and joking with ITV’s The Rundown, Ope said, “Let’s clear this up right now” as he tackled the topic.

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The interviewer, who was also Nigerian, said that the name is traditionally pronounced “Op-eh” and not “oh-pee.”

“When I was three months old, I was fostered by an amazing family, Pauline and Barry. Shoutout one time, they’re the best people in the world,” he said. “They’re both white, and that’s just how they say it. They’ve called me ‘Oh-pee’ from birth. And they raised me, they’re my parents, so I feel like I want to honour that and respect that.”

@itvtherundown

Love Island’s Ope ‘clears up’ how to pronounce his name after all the discourse online 👀 Ope and Victoria were dumped after being voted the least connected couple by their fellow Islanders. Dumped Islanders set the record straight 🎙️ Catch every clip of Love Island: Right of Reply on The Rundown. #LoveIsland #LoveIslandUK #LoveIsland2026 #OpeLoveIsland #RightOfReply

♬ original sound – The Rundown

He acknowledged that it’s not the traditional way of saying it, but argued that others would do the same if they were raised by “two of the best people on the planet.”

Though there were still some critics in the comments, most of them were wholly positive.

“It’s literally HIS name… He’s free to pronounce it the way that he prefers; idk why everyone was pressed about it,” one person said.

Another wrote: “Awwwwwwww, this is why people shouldn’t judge fr.”

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Featured image credit: Love Island