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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Conn chapter.

SPOILER WARNING for Love Island: All Stars (2024) — Discussion of major events and winners.

Following 10 iconic seasons of Love Island (UK), the highly anticipated Love Island: All Stars has finally come to an end. This specialty spinoff featured personalities from previous regular seasons, both old and new, and both iconic and controversial. This article will cover everything between the major dramas, the winners, and potential islanders for the next All Stars season.

The Season of the Exes

The most glaringly unique aspect of the Love Island: All Stars season was the number of exes and ex-situationships the producers forced to live in the villa together. Almost every islander who stepped into the villa had some sort of history with someone else there simultaneously. 

Most notably, this includes Callum Jones and Molly Smith: two Season Six lovebirds who met on the show and dated for the next three years to follow. Just six months before the All Stars season, they broke up. The producers took advantage of their fans’ heartbreaks following the breakup by inserting both of them in the villa as bombshells in the very first episode. Callum and Molly briefly tried to rekindle things, but ultimately decided to pursue other people. 

Similarly to Callum and Molly, Liberty Poole and Jake Cornish are two exes from Season Seven who did not make it past the finale of their original season. Yet, they were forced to live alongside one another from the very first All Stars episode. Jake quickly and willingly left the villa, despite their agreement on remaining just friends. 

Kaz Kamwi and Tyler Cruickshank are also exes from Season Seven who lasted three months following the show. They met again on All Stars, and Tyler quickly redirected his efforts to another islander despite their initial plan to rekindle. 

Beyond those two, Georgia Steel claimed to have offscreen “history” with islanders Toby Aromolaran and Tom Clare. Georgia Harrison also had a brief offscreen romance with Islander Casey O’Gorman, which she claims ended with Casey “ghosting” her. Arabella Chi admittedly hooked up offscreen with Toby and Josh Ritchie.

The number of exes who shared screen time this season is unprecedented in Love Island history, which was unexpected for many fans. While it added some drama, it prevented some islanders from getting to know new people. Fans got quite tired of it, craving fresh relationships in later episodes. 

Love Triangles

Especially considering all the exes on the show this season, the love triangles got repetitive at times. The most common involved both Molly Smith and Georgia Steel, which caused some unfortunate girl drama between the two former friends.

First, Georgia S. and Toby were an item. That romance dissolved once Toby wanted to get to know Molly, despite it never making it far. Then, Georgia S. began getting to know Molly’s ex, Callum, with her blessing. Despite their communication, Molly had residual emotions about the situation that she put aside for Georgia. Then, as Molly began to get to know Tom, Georgia S. was also seen flirting with Tom behind both Molly and Callum’s back. Her sneakiness was later revealed in the infamous Love Island “Movie Night.”

This sounds confusing, and it was. All of this occurred just for Georgia S. to end up with Toby once again, Molly with Tom, and Callum with an entirely different girl (Jess Gale).

Other love triangles did not receive much air time, such as one between exes Kaz and Tyler, and Hannah Elizabeth. Another minor example includes one between Kaz, and now-dating Demi Jones and Luis Morrison. 

Lack of Diversity 

On another note, a common critique among Love Island: All Stars viewers and outspoken ex-islanders is the unusual lack of diversity. To put it simply, this spinoff was extremely white, skinny, and blonde. As much as this was frustrating for viewers, the greatest victim was Kaz. She was treated as the token Black woman of the show and played a “therapist” role for all the other islanders. The producers completely neglected her, only sending one person for her during the entire season. That person was her ex, Tyler, who mugged her off almost immediately. Other islanders were sent in several bombshells who were interested in them specifically, while Kaz was strung along to be everyone’s best friend and nothing more.

Love Island certainly needs to prioritize diversity in all of their seasons, but fans were rightfully more upset than ever about their lack of efforts this time around. 

Recap of Winners

According to Planet Radio, here were the top five winning couples and their percentages of the final vote at the end of the season:

  1. Molly Smith and Tom Clare (35%)
  2. Jess Gale and Callum Jones (33%)
  3. Sophie Piper and Josh Ritchie (15%)
  4. Georgia Steel and Toby Aromolaran (11%)
  5. Georgia Harrison and Anton Danyluk (7%)

Molly and Callum were certainly Love Island: All Stars favorites and discussion among fans refer to their first and second-place wins as the “Amber Gill Effect.” Amber Gill was an extremely loved Islander from Season Five, who was appreciated enough by fans to have won no matter what couple she ended up in. As much as fans love Molly and Callum together, they also love them as individuals. 

So far, all of these couples are still together. However, it isn’t exactly common for Love Island couples to last a long time, with three-year exes such as Molly and Callum being a rare case. 

Suggestions for Future Love Island: All Stars Islanders

If I were a producer, here are my top 10 picks for the next Love Island: All Stars Season: 

  1. Maura Higgins (Season Five)
  2. Ovie Soko (Season Five)
  3. Chloe Burrows (Season Seven)
  4. Catherine Agbaje (Season Ten)
  5. Anna Vakili (Season Five)
  6. Scott van-der-Sluis (Season Ten)
  7. Paige Thorne (Season Eight)
  8. Yewande Biala (Season Five)
  9. Zara Deniz (Season Nine)
  10. Kem Cetinay (Season Three)

These potential Islanders are much more diverse than the previous season and are guaranteed to bring the entertainment. 

Did it Live Up to Expectations?

Overall, the concept of an All Stars season has been in discussion among fans for years. While it was great seeing some fan-favorite islanders from previous seasons, certain aspects did disappoint. I hope that in future seasons they have fewer exes and more diversity in the villa. If the producers can take those critiques, Love Island: All Stars will be incredible.

Cawley DiStephan has been a writer at the Her Campus at UConn chapter since 2022. She writes about a variety of topics including culture, relationships, life at college, entertainment, and more. She is most proud of her article “Women At UConn On The Student Recreation Center.” Cawley is a political science major on the pre-law track. She hopes to be a lawyer one day and is still exploring her options in what specific field. Outside of her writing for Her Campus, she enjoys writing political analysis for her classes. Her love for writing extends to her job at the UConn Writing Center, where she works with peers on their own writing assignments. She is also involved in several project-based initiatives at the center. In Cawley’s free time, she listens to a lot of music. Her favorite artists are Frank Ocean and SZA. She also enjoys watching films and TV shows, some of her favorites include BEEF, Poor Things, Beau is Afraid, Game of Thrones, and Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. One of her favorite activities is thrifting, and loves to drink a matcha latte or a dirty chai while she does so. Cawley loves to enjoy all of these hobbies with her friends, family, and boyfriend.