The Casa Amor recoupling showed Love Island 2023’s problem: Zero solid couples

Love Island 2023 has been a great season – don’t let the ratings plummeting tell you otherwise. I’d honestly go as far as to say it’s the show at its peak: a great cast, diverse Islanders, good drama and hilarious Twitter commentary that makes tuning in live night after night genuinely feel so much fun and not a chore like it has done a lot recently. But Casa Amor has revealed this season’s biggest issue, one that actually has never plagued the show before now. Love Island 2023 has no solid, committed couples – which makes any Casa Amor drama feel significantly redundant. Here’s why.

The power of the OG couple

With every season of Love Island, you can guarantee that somewhere in the final will be a pair who’ve been coupled up from the beginning, or at least from first week. Think Nathan and Cara, Molly and Tommy, Luca and Gemma – THAT couple who you just know is going to be there til the end and cause 0 chaos at Casa Amor. They’re the boring dependable ones. The only exception here being the likes of Millie and Liam, not a day one couple but one fully committed and together that when things go astray at Casa Amor it feels genuinely shocking and sad.

And herein lies the problem. Who do we have this year to create such emotionally charged drama? Let’s start with the most obvious answer – Ella and Tyrique. This one is the closest we’ve got, because these two were the most serious pre Casa – officially “closed off”, a phrase that apparently doesn’t mean the same as exclusive or boyfriend and girlfriend. There was big drama surrounding these two at the end of the Casa recoupling, but it’s clear to anyone with eyes and a basic understanding of how romantic feelings work that they’re into each other and will work it out.

via ITV. It’s giving Weeping Angel from Doctor Who…

And who else? The show would love us to believe there’s some drama between Montel and Leah because Tink acted like Montel just spent a week professing his love to her – but the drama didn’t land. Montel wasn’t arsed, Leah was 10 per cent arsed and Tink looked dramatic. Perhaps we’d care more if Montel and Leah had had any sort of “closed off” chat, but that wasn’t the case. And more importantly, not one person is invested in Montel and Leah making it. Not one person.

Then we’ve got Sammy and Jess. A complex one, because they’re into each other but weren’t even coupled up so it made no difference if one came back single and another didn’t because they wouldn’t effect each other. Sammy coupled up and Jess came back in single but she wasn’t going to Sammy anyway, so it had 0 impact. Mitch, who was with Jess, recoupled – but obviously since they were platonic Jess expected it. Sammy and Jess will get talking again and couple up at the next recoupling. Amber will go home. We all know it.

And then we’ve got the saddest outcome of all: Catherine recoupling with Elom after Scott stayed loyal. Again, she was well within her rights to – no couples were solid in Love Island 2023. Bets were off. And now we’re suffering the consequences. Are we meant to be rooting for Zachariah and Molly? Are we meant to be gagged that Kady came back single even though her and Zach was dead in the water anyway? Time will tell – but right now after a great start and a middling Casa Amor Love Island having zero solid couples makes it difficult to see the path towards the finale and towards a winner. It’s literally anyone’s game.

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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