7 Of The Highest Highs (& Lowest Lows) From Love Island 2022

I’ll be honest, for me the show really started when the the Turkish queen entered the villa. Ekin-Su has been undoubtedly one of the best bombshells to walk into the villa – ever. (Not Adam Collard, thank you very much.) From crawling around on the terrace with Jay, to settling her beef with Nathalia in a pancake battle, she’s been pivotal to this season’s success. Despite her early comments about not being a “girl’s girl,” she proved to have an absolute heart of gold.

If you’re a long term Love Island viewer, you’d know that Black women are often dealt with a poor hand when it comes to this show. They are always picked last, no one really fancies them and no one speaks about their appearances, commending instead on their “amazing vibe” and such. Now Indiyah, a 23-year-old hotel waitress and social media model has a different narrative. Sure, it was slow with Ikenna, but he did express that she was beautiful. Remi and Deji both pursued Indiyah, too. Bumps aside, Dami ultimately provided a fairytale ending, constantly complimenting her and speaking positively about her to the boys. I saw a lot of tweets about how different Indiyah’’s experience was compared to previous Black contestants, but what really clinched it for me was when Danica left and we saw Indiyah cry for the first time. She was crying for her friend, not over a man. Let’s hope this is a trend that continues.

Let’s face it: no other couple has been as adorable as Damiyah. If you don’t agree, it’s because Dami’s Casa Amor antics have clouded your judgement. And I get it. But aside from that, they haven’t really had any hiccups (except for Indiyah calling Dami “Deji” a few times, which is hilarious). Their connection has been undeniable; constantly smiling around each other and always chatting. I’m crying again thinking about their personal handshake. Watching Dami shaking during his final speech, too, completely won me over.

Andrew and Tasha also really came through in the end. Despite the rocky middle, I have to raise my glass to them and their growth. The moment during Mad Movies when Andrew admits he cannot say anything to Tasha because of his own behaviour, despite Luca desperately egging him into anger, was a real moment of maturity, I thought. The moment Tasha said Andrew removes her cochlear implant for her when she falls asleep had be in crying my eyes out. This is a couple that will stand the test of time, I reckon.

If this season taught us anything (or reminded us about amply, perhaps) it is the importance of putting yourself first. The first islander to serve up the masterclass was Liam, followed swiftly by Jacques. Their respective decisions to leave the villa in order to care for the mental health is nothing short of exemplary. Danica’s journey was also a lesson in resilience and self love. She constantly reminded herself that she is a 10/10, despite having a rocky start in the love department. The moment when she broke down after Billy pied her off was all the more heartbreaking to see because of that, but it brought us another powerful reminder: the power of sisterhood as the girls rallied around her and poured her with affirmations and support. We love to see it!

Luca started off as the villa’s resident cheeky chappy, quick with his one-liners, wearing funny footwear, and seemingly brimming with confidence. But it wasn’t long before he became rather miserable, letting his insecurities get the best of his behaviour. Pulling Gemma away in the airline challenge, bullying Tasha, making Danica feel bad when she coupled up with him… He may have remained “faithful” to Gemma, but he was definitely the worst behaved man there. He wasn’t alone, though. Billy let us down by sharing intimate details about his time with Danica without discussing it with her, George told many stories about what happened with Ekin, and let’s not forget about Jacques calling Ekin-Su a “f***ing headache.” Let’s hope for (a lot) less of that in future.

And while we’re on the subject, let’s also hope that in the future, the girls will let the boys sweat a little more. After the way they behaved in Casa Amor, those boys needed a week of cold shoulders, not 1 working day. This isn’t Amazon Prime, guys.

Between Davide’s highly quotable sayings (“you are a liar, actress”) to Deji’s brilliant lines (“I don’t want peace, I want problems”) and Andrew’s questionable additions (“I licked her tit or whatever”) this year’s Love Island has been brimming with memorable sayings. My favourite? Indiyah’s “may the best heartbreaker win.”