Love Island fans have said they have a 'weird feeling' after picking up on remarks made by one of the new islanders who will be calling the main villa home following the dramatic Casa Amor recoupling. The original contestants were split earlier this week when the girls were sent off to a secondary villa for the annual relationship test.
They were joined by six new male bombshells while the boys had to wait to be joined by six new female bombshells in the main South African villa. And after days of loyalties being tested in both locations, Thursday night's episode of the ITV2 dating show saw the islanders reunite with host Maya Jama back to find out who was sticking in their couple and who was moving on with someone new.
One of the biggest shocks to the islanders came when Tanya Manhenga decided to return to the villa with Martin Akinola despite having been coupled up with 24-year-old airport security officer Shaq since the beginning of the series. Ahead of Tanya’s return, Shaq had told Maya and his fellow islanders that he felt “a piece of me has been missing” as he declared his love for the 23-year-old biomedical sciences student.
READ MORE: ITV Love Island fans rage over 'criminal' move seconds before end of Casa Amor recoupling chaos
Following Tanya’s return with 27-year-old software engineer Martin, Shaq admitted: "Bit lost for words to be honest. I think I’ve been honest with my feelings since day one, I actually meant it when I said I love you, but I guess not everyone means it when they say something."
Tanya attempted to explain her decision, replying: "I went to Casa Amor thinking I wasn’t going to find any vibes… But I think it would be silly for me to not give it more time, and it’s definitely not the end." To which a dumbfounded Shaq said: “It’s the end for me.” He then added: “That’s what I get for being the nice guy, they always finish last."
But it was remarks made by Martin that got Love Island viewers flocking to social media. After hearing from Tanya and Shaq, Maya then moved the questions over to the 27-year-old Dublin native, who just said he was 'excited' to be in the villa. "The work starts now", he said. "I understand they've got something, but that's history. I feel like we have a better connection. I'm excited to see where this can go."
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However, it was his mention of being 'excited' to be in the main villa that left fans worrying Tanya had made a mistake. @OffRealityTv tweeted: "The game is the game you just got to charge it - Shaq handled this mess of a recoupling so well Tanya baby I hope you realized you played yourself as soon as Martin said he’s just happy to be here #LoveIsland."
@Tella_100 posted: "Sorry Tanya is mad. You can’t come back with another man and stand there 1. Trying to justify and 2. Ideally saying it’s not over with Shaq Martin isn’t even in to her, he spoke heavily about being happy he was brought back not even about her #loveisland." @Gia_Margot shared: "Did Tanya genuinely think its not the end for her & Shaq when he was mad at her for winning a kissing challenge??? Gal u alright Feel bad for Shaq & I don’t think Martin’s even that interested he only seemed happy get into the main Villa FFS #LoveIsland."
@_genieparkinson added: "Anyone else have a weird feeling about Martin ? Tanya wasn’t in his top 3 on day one, Didn’t take ANY of Tanya’s 'kiss me' hits, small quick kiss on the last night, didn’t mention he’s happy with her and looking forward to getting to know her more. Just 'happy to be here.'"
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