We found out the exact time and place Tyrique and Ella met before Love Island

Love Island is back, and already we’ve had a particular moment overshadowing the introduction of all the hot new singles – Tyrique and Ella already know each other.

It’s a tale as old as time – every year Islanders know other Islanders or have brief connections to one another, the producers really do keep their circles tight. In the winter series the same thing happened, during episode one Haris declared he had met Olivia before during her ring girl days.

During the first episode of the summer Love Island 2023 series, Ella and Tyrique were coupled up by the public. When this happened, Ella pointed out that they’d already met. Awkwardly, Tyrique played off that he didn’t remember this encounter at all.

via ITV

Ella told the girls: “I have met him before. Physically I am like yeah, he is good looking and my type. But I have already met him.” When asked about how they’d met, she said: “Out in London. I’m not being funny but he is literally pretending he doesn’t remember, but there’s no way he doesn’t remember.”

Tyrique told her “I swear to god I don’t remember” when she brought it up with him, again, later on in the show. He said her “face did look familiar”, which Ella said might have been all he could remember of her, because she had blonde hair at the time.

WELL. That is all the information we need to do a full-scale investigation into when and where they met.

So, how do Love Island 2023’s Ella and Tyrique know each other?

I’ve done the groundwork here, and Instagram tells the tale. There is a firm two-week window when Ella had blonde hair, and it was at the end of February this year. She posted on Instagram to say she was in London for the weekend on February 26th, so she would have been there on the 25th – 26th.

via Instagram @ellathomas_

She posted pictures at a Japanese restaurant, and guess who was also dining out at a Japanese restaurant at the same time?! Tyrique! The pictures they have both posted match up in date, and seemingly location too. This means they met just three months ago!

via Instagram @tyriquehyde

The shots look a lot like they were taken in Roka, in Mayfair. The swanky location is an award winning Japanese restaurant, just off from Oxford Street.

So, if my calculations are correct – Tyrique and Ella met in Mayfair, on February 25th. Case closed!

Love Island 2023 is on ITV2 and ITVX. For all the latest Love Island news and gossip and for the best memes and quizzes, like The Holy Church of Love Island on Facebook. 

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