Week 3 brought some big changes to theLove Islandvilla, with new bombshells,Ronnie moving on to yet another girl, anda recoupling that left Samantha shockingly dumped from the island. Samantha had been in a couple with Joey for the past two weeks, but after three new bombshells arrived – one of them being Joey’s ex Grace – Samantha immediately knew he would jump ship. And that he did, turning his attention entirely to Grace and leaving Samantha feeling like she’d just wasted her first two weeks in the villa on someone who was biding his time until another bombshell came in. Joey and Grace already had preexisting feelings for each other, and as soon as they reunited in the villa, the chemistry between them was palpable. His strong connection with Grace left Samantha vulnerable to elimination, andwhen Omar ultimately picked Jess for a friendship couple, Samantha was told to pack up and leave. When an islander is left single at the end of a recoupling, they aren’t always dumped from the villa, as we saw with Mimii earlier in the season, and considering all the emotional turmoil Samantha just endured,she deserved another shot at finding love onLove Island.
Love Island
In a stunning villa, a group of attractive singles lives together as they seek love and connections. Contestants must pair up and stay coupled to survive elimination rounds. Along the way, they participate in engaging challenges and games that put their relationships to the test. New islanders are regularly introduced, causing shifts in alliances and romantic interests. Viewers play a crucial role by voting for their favorite couples, with the most popular pair ultimately winning a cash prize and the title of the strongest couple.
Joey Ignored Samantha as Soon as Grace Entered the Villa
With thearrival of three new bombshellsin Episode 13, things got a lot more interesting when it was revealed that one of the girls was Joey’s ex, and his head was immediately turned. We’ve seen exes of islanders enter the villa before, like in Season 8 with Gemma and Jacques, but this time was different. Grace isn’t some distant ex from years past but a very recent holiday fling who Joey clearly still has strong feelings for, andSamantha quickly realized she could never compete with that.There had already been some cracks in Samantha and Joey’s relationship, but with the Jess-Ronnie-Harriett and Mimii-Ayo-Uma love triangles dominating most of the episodes, they weren’t much of a focal point. His earliest interactions with Grace already had Samantha suspecting their relationship was coming to an end, and though Samantha’s decision to sleep on the daybed the first night Grace was in the villa may have seemed like an overreaction at the time,her instincts proved to be correct.
Ever since Grace entered the villa,Joey showed flagrant disregard for Samantha’s feelingsand a fundamental lack of understanding of what exactly he was doing wrong. Joey doesn’t exhibit enough emotional maturity to approach the situation in a respectful way, kissing Grace on the daybed in full view of everyone in the villa. Though Samantha herself didn’t see, most of the other islanders did, and Jess had to be the one to break the news to her. When Jess later tries to explain to Joey why that was, in fact, a disrespectful thing to do,he struggles to understand why his actions were inappropriate. Jess then has to clarify that no, you don’t just “accidentally” kiss someone, as Joey claimed happened on the daybed. Joey also decides to sleep with Grace in the Hideaway, figuring she couldn’t possibly spend one night in a single bed alone, so obviously, they had no choice but to spend the night in the Hideaway. You know it’s bad whenRonnie, of all people, has to be the one to explain to Joey why Samantha wouldn’t want to talk to him before she left the villa.
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Samantha Deserved a Second Chance at Love After Joey Dumped Her
Confident, witty, anda supportive friend to the girls, especially Nicole and Jess, it was sad to see Samantha start to doubt herself after Grace entered the villa, and she definitely deserved another chance at love after Joey ditched her. After expressing frustration that Joey wasn’t physically affectionate with her while they’d been coupled up, seeing Joey unable to keep his hands off of Grace was understandably upsetting. Shebroke down in tears with Jess, compared herself to Grace, and said over and over that she felt embarrassed by the entire situation. From Jess and Harriett with Ronnie to Samantha with Joey, it’s sad to see these women feel embarrassed over the actions of men that had nothing to do with them, thoughSamantha did her best to keep it together in front of Joey.Jess and Nicole were there to support her emotionally and hype her up, only for Samantha to later be dumped from the villa.
When the bombshells were given first pick at Tuesday’s recoupling, Tiffany coupled up with Ronnie, Wil with Uma, and Grace, of course, with Joey, leaving Jess, Harriett, and Samantha at risk of elimination. After Samantha half jokingly suggested she and Sean enter into a friendship in a previous episode, Sean actuallydoesforma friendship couplewith Harriett instead, choosing her in the recoupling. With Uma coupled up with Wil,Omar was also left to choose between Jess and Samantha for a friendship couple, and ultimately went with Jess.
TheLove Islandproducers could have easily added another new boy to the villa like they did when Mimii was left single after Uma coupled up with Ayo in the first week, but instead had her unceremoniously dumped from the villa. Nevertheless,Samantha left with her head highand has sincereceived an outpouring of support online. Ex-islanderMunveer Jabbal recently voiced his supportfor Samantha as well, who he was close to in the villa, and knew she had feelings for Joey that weren’t being reciprocated. Aside from Joey,Samantha wasn’t romantically interested in any of the other boysbut never had the chance to potentially forge a connection with a future bombshell. After seeing Samantha in distress over the course of several episodes, it would have been a nice twist to bring in a new boy for her when she was left single at the end of the recoupling, and it was just cruel and upsetting to see herLove Islandjourney come to an end the way it did.
Love Island UKis available to stream on Hulu in the US.
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