Latest news with #LoveIslandUK
Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
'Love Island is modern dating on steroids and that's why it feels so raw'
As entertaining as it is, Love Island is starting to hold up an uncomfortable mirror to modern dating especially for young people. But is Love Island truly identical to dating in 2025? This season of Love Island UK has been one of the most toxic yet. Another day, another islander is humiliated on national TV. Harrison, 22, attracted attention on the ITV2 show for what he described as a "back-and-forth" between his connections with Toni, 24, and Lauren, 26. This included him sleeping with Lauren while estranged from Toni and then encouraging Toni to choose him at the next recoupling. After recoupling with Toni, footballer Harrison ended up continuing to pursue things with Lauren more recently. Lauren was dumped from the villa last week by the actions of a bombshell and Harrison later left to reunite with her. Amid his stint on Love Island, a spokesperson for Women's Aid issued a statement to the Tab, which included mention of women being "lied to, slut-shamed and manipulated, as well as laughed at behind their backs." But Harrison's behaviour isn't the only casual cruelty and humiliation we've seen unfold and passed off as 'banter.' For many fans, the show is a reflection of just how messy modern dating has become. At times, it feels less like entertainment and more like a horrible reality check. While some people can switch off, most can't look away. Author of Real Talk and psychotherapist Tasha Bailey spoke to The Mirror about how shows like this affect dating culture and why so many of us seem drawn to toxic patterns in the first place. Is Love Island a true reflection of dating in 2025? Tasha agrees the show reflects some realities of dating for young people but with key differences. 'This season has especially shown us the ways misogyny shows up in the dating world, with many of the male contestants encouraging each other to act disrespectfully towards women and that creating even more competition between the women themselves,' she said. 'That being said, we have to remember that Love Island doesn't fully reflect everyday life. It lacks diversity and, ultimately, it's made for entertainment purposes,' she added. How public humiliation affects confidence For many viewers, there's real worry about the islanders particularly those who are humiliated on screen and how they'll cope after leaving the villa. For more stories like this subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The Weekly Gulp, for a curated roundup of trending stories, poignant interviews, and viral lifestyle picks from The Mirror's Audience U35 team delivered straight to your inbox. 'Public humiliation in a relationship can trigger toxic shame - the internal belief that there's something inherently wrong with us that deserves such humiliation,' Tasha explained. 'Instead of saying, 'something is wrong here,' we tell ourselves, 'something is wrong with me.'' She said this shame‑fuelled mindset can crush self‑esteem, invalidate our emotions, and make us ignore red flags in others. 'We learn to depend on other people's opinions and distrust ourselves,' she added. Why are people drawn to toxic relationship patterns Tasha believes we're often pulled towards what feels familiar, even if it's harmful. 'Both in reality TV and real life, we tend to be drawn to relationships that already feel familiar. So even if it's toxic, we're more inclined to repeat patterns we experienced in past romantic or family relationships,' she said. 'The patterns we tolerate and are drawn to often reflect our self‑worth and what we think we deserve.' Love Island takeaways While it's easy to get caught up in the drama, Tasha suggests using shows like Love Island as an opportunity to reflect on what you don't want in a relationship. 'Reality TV lets us bear witness to cycles of toxic patterns and the toll they take on people,' she said. 'But I'd recommend balancing these shows with more wholesome and reflective depictions of romantic relationships to help your brain recognise the green flags, too.' For those who recognise themselves in some of the unhealthy behaviours on screen, she adds 'Understand the narratives you're still carrying about love and relationships, that might be standing in the way of immersing yourself in the next healthy one. "Show compassion to your own unhealthy patterns, they have a root that needs to be attended to.'
Graziadaily
16 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Graziadaily
Love Island First Look Hints At Who Gets Dumped Tonight
With just days to go before the Love Island UK final (Monday 4th August 2025) and no clear frontrunners, it's still anyones prize. Tonight the Islanders' Talent Show continues, with a shock dumping to follow. According to ITV's 'first look', Conor and Megan embrace Troy and Gabriella with a classic High School Musical duet. Shakira belts out Aladdin's A Whole New World. Jamie delivers an emotional motivational speech and Harry rocks up as a clown, showing his juggling skills. Toni closes the show serving shots and sass, dissing out comments to all the Islanders. 'Can't over-serve you, you'll take my man to the Hideway,' she teases Helena. After the fun, things take a serious turn... 'The public have been voting for their favourite couple. The couple with the fewest votes and therefore dumped for the island is...' A sudden dumping takes place and the very next day 6 new arrivals turn up completely unexpected. The couples are tested on another level as they are thrusted into parenthood. For some the challenge draws them closer, with one couple even going exclusive. For others, the idea of not having a baby in the future causes a stir.
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
‘Wow unreal' cry fans as Irish Love Islander Andrada reveals major hair transformation after villa stint
IRISH Love Island star Andrada Pop has wowed her fans with a brand new hair do. The Balbriggan beauty the Mallorca villa alongside OG Islander Ben Holbrough. Advertisement 3 Andrada appeared on this year's Love Island UK 3 Andrada has switched up her look since leaving the villa Credit: Instagram 3 Andrada has dyed her hair back brown Credit: Instagram Andrada appeared on this season of The 27-year-old travelled to Blanchardstown yesterday to get beautified by Hair By Hilda. Andrada documented the process and shared clips of before and after her hair do on her Instagram. The reality star's hairdresser first removed her old extensions and put the pigment back in her hair - which actually turned it ginger for a short time. Advertisement read more on andrada pop Andrada then got her hair dyed to a deep chocolate brown colour and got long luscious bonded hair extensions put in. The Dubliner was chuffed with her fresh new look as she pulled her best poses to the camera while flicking her hair back. Andrada captioned her post: " I did a thing… @hairbyhilda_." Her friends and fans all loved the new look and raced to the comment section with compliments. Advertisement read more on the irish sun Breaking Influencer Ellie Kelly said: "Oh I loveeee it!" Hariharan commented: "Omg I love it." Love Island Andrada Pop opens up on villa experience Rachel wrote: "Wow u look absolutely unreal, dark for sure baby girl." Carrie remarked: "Wow unreal." Advertisement Andrada's other half in the villa, Ben, was criticised by viewers for his run-ins with a few of the Love Islanders whilst on the show. ISLE SAY! However, Ben shared how he's had a "reality check" just days after his exit on podcast He said: "We had Yasmin, Toni, Shakira - I had my run-ins with them. The thing is, it was all such silly things as well. "Not using it as an excuse, but feelings and emotions are just so heightened. It's the littlest things that can trigger you." Advertisement Ben and Andrada have been continuing to get to know each other outside of the villa. The Balbriggan beauty 'DRAG YOU DOWN' "Like telling Yasmin that she's irrelevant, that the audience are kind of sitting there going, 'Hold on a second, dude, this is… what are you up to?'. Advertisement "And you're kind of stuck in that situation... with him then, like, because he can kind of drag you down." Andrada understood where Muireann was coming from but made sure to clear things up. She said: "When the producers were calling, [asking], 'Who's your top three?', Ben was there at the very start, and then I kind of took him off after that [incident]. "But he's very different in there, that's what I mean. It's like, what you see on TV, it's only 45 minutes out of the day, do you know what I mean? Advertisement "So, there's a lot more that goes on."
USA Today
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
'Challenge' vets CT and Olivia reveal their partner picking strategies
A new season of The Challenge kicks off on Wednesday, and the long-running reality franchise is adding some new faces to the mix. The Challenge: Vets & New Threats brings back some of the biggest names in the competition series, while also introducing a crop of freshman contenders for the 41st season. Sixteen vets of the game will be paired up with 16 newcomers, joining the fray from shows like Survivor, Love Island UK, Big Brother, The Amazing Race and more. Among the vets are long-time Challenge contender and five-time champion Chris "CT" Tamburello and three-time participant Olivia Kaiser. Although Kaiser herself is a relative newbie when standing alongside challengers like Tamburello, Johnny Bananas and Aneesa Ferreira, she's gotten a lot of experience through those three seasons. In her first two seasons, Kaiser made it 17 episodes, with the Love Island USA star finishing in fourth in her first season. That experience has been invaluable. "I'm excited for this season, because although I still feel like a rookie, I feel like I have actually experienced almost more than some of the longtime vets," Kaiser told For The Win in a recent interview. "I feel like I really have put in the work. I'm proud of myself to be able to be called a vet, but at the same time, I'm still finding my bearings." Both Kaiser and Tamburello enter new seasons with different strategies, with the long-time participant still just giddy to be included. "I think for a long time I've kind of kind of forgot about like the simple things I used to take a granted," Tamburello said. "I always kind of feel like I'm Peter Pan slash Willy Wonka in the sense that I get to go back to Neverland whenever I get the invite. I want to show up at the airport, say my final good byes, hand over my phone, and then I get my golden ticket and that's when I find out where I'm gonna go. It's like Christmas." Tamburello -- who has been part of some of the most iconic moments in Challenge history -- and Kaiser know how instrumental the right partner is on one of these seasons. For the 20-season veteran it's less about what the potential partner has than what they don't, trying to avoid drama and any enemies a partner might bring into the mix. "I don't want my partner to be XYZ," Tamburello explained. "The first thing I'm looking for is something I'm not looking for, if that makes sense." Kaiser relies less on choosing the biggest or strongest or fastest partner (although those traits are important in a physical game) and instead looks at compatibility. "I kind of just wanted someone that wanted to work with me, that we would have fun," she said. "You were with your partner all season, and I've been with a partner before, and I know how important that is for someone to motivate you. It's not about being the best, it's about being the best for your partner." While it's a mixed bag how partnerships shake out over the course of a season, the vets can let out an exhale of relief over what the fresh meat is bringing for Season 41. "I will say that this season, I am so impressed with every single rookie that showed up. It's literally insane," Kaiser said of the new crop of competitors. "I think all of us vets were kind of like, 'Oh my God. Thank God we're partnering with one of them.'" The Challenge: Vets & New Threats airs Wednesday nights at 8 ET on MTV.
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Love Island fans clock the ‘real reason' Meg and Dejon voted for Yas and Jamie in tense villa game
LOVE Island fans say they've clocked the 'real reason' that Meg and Dejon voted for Yas and Jamie, in a tense villa game. Advertisement 4 Love Island fans say they've clocked the 'real reason' that Meg and Dejon voted for Yas and Jamie, in a tense villa game Credit: Eroteme 4 They voted for Yas and Jamie for the 'most likely to care how they're perceived' category Credit: Eroteme 4 The Islanders gathered around the fire pit for the very intense game Credit: Eroteme The pair read out questions which the Islanders then had to answer in their couples as they selected which couple they believe it applies to most. Dejon and Yasmin have notoriously not seen eye to eye during their time on the dating show. And now, Love Island fans have speculated that Meg and Dejon feel threatened by Yas and Jamie, as one person wrote on X: 'Meg and Dejon deffo know Yas and Jamie are strong contenders. #LoveIslandUK.' Advertisement Read More on Love Island A second person added: 'Not meg and dejon going after yas and jamie now bc theyre the strongest couple.' And a third person echoed: 'It's obvious what is happening here. Meg and Dejon know Yas and Jamie are winners and they feel threatened.' Dejon's behaviour on the show has come under scrutiny from fans and, more recently, from his sister, Gene and her Advertisement Most read in Love Island Exclusive Love Island's Dejon declares his love for Meg as they become boyfriend and girlfriend The duo have since faced a backlash from fans who have accused them of glossing over Dejon's flirty behaviour with bombshells in the villa and "enabling" the curt way he has spoken to some of the girls like Billykiss and Yasmin. On one occasion Dejon bluntly told Billykiss that she was after 15 minutes of fame by commenting on He rudely rated Yas's kissing skills zero out of 10 during a challenge and didn't like it when she claimed he was acting up just to keep partner Meg happy. While on another occasion he Advertisement Gene insisted she gave Dejon a dressing-down during her visit and called out his more controversial moments, however none of it made the cut. Speaking on TikTok , she said: "Me and mum, literally straight away, went in on him. I grilled him for five minutes straight and they didn't show any of it. Not even a single second. I just think it's crazy what they actually choose to put in the show." She continued: "I told him about himself 'the way you handle situations sometimes you should handle in a better way'... I told him there's a lot of things you have to change when you come out of the villa. "So many things in that conversation were spoken about and they showed 10 seconds of the conversation. We grilled him so much." Advertisement She finished by saying that while people can believe what they want to believe, she is "not an enabler" and will tell her brother and her siblings how she really feels. There was a giveaway clue that Dejon had been on the receiving end of some home truths in the episode when he told his family: "You lot just come in to cook me or what?" Viewers of Gene's video seemed to back her version of events, with one commenting: "Tbh I believe her. I actually noticed when Shakira was having a conversation with her mum about Harry how choppy the editing felt. If you go back and watch it's very obvious at times that they cut away from her mum talking mid-sentence." Another said: "Fair enough! I'll give her the benefit of the doubt - his mum still didn't need to add that bit about apologising to Yasmin." Advertisement A third said: "It's not that his family didn't say things that excused his behaviour because they did, we heard that, but I do believe they grilled him too. Dejon seemed quite shaken after. They don't always show that balance though, because it's not as entertaining." 4 Dejon's behaviour has been called into question by fans Credit: Eroteme
