I was a bit iffy when starting off the 2021 season of Love Island. I always look forward to the weeks in July and August where my every evening is consumed with bikini clad babes and fit boys in their pursuit to find love or more importantly a PLT deal. It took me a while to get excited about it this year, the cast didn’t spark my interest and the plot lines gave me serious dejavu. But I persevered with it and grew to love every cast member, flaws and all, and was in awe of their character development and the plot twists that came with it. Even though it is a trivial reality TV show, it taught me a lot about different personality types, relationships, heartbreak and friendship.
Female friendship trumps all
Your girls will always have your back and this was so apparent in the villa throughout the series. Whenever there was a blow up, they went straight to the terrace to hash it out and provide a shoulder to cry on. There’s usually a focus on the bromance’s in a series but this year it’s been all about the gal pals. We saw Liberty and Kaz become instant besties when they entered the villa together and from then on they hyped each other up and supported each other through thick and thin, being each others personal photographers and recently Kaz sleeping on the day bed with Lib when she broke it off with Jake – Alexa, play ‘best friend’ by Saweetie!
Even Faye who had been a bit salty with the girls, was there for her girl Lib when she most needed it. Your girl friends always give the best and most honest advice, sometimes it’s tough to swallow but that’s what Faye was there for when Lib most needed it. Cuddles and real talk fix a multitude of issues.
Even though there are some strong couples in the villa, the female friendships have stood out as the strongest relationships in there. There’s an ‘end’ in ‘boyfriend’ but not in ‘gal pal’!
Always trust your gut
It was really tough to see Lib go through what she did, but it’s a reminder to always trust your gut, If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t right. It’s sometimes easier to carry on with a pit in your stomach than confront the issue head on, but from experience, that never works out! The issue will eventually bubble up and come out in an even worse way. Liberty was so brave to confront her feelings head on, even though it was extremely tough. I’m sure she has inspired so many girls who are in toxic relationships to trust that gut feeling when they know something isn’t right and cut the chord if they need to. No one knows you better than you know yourself.
It’s ok to forgive and forget
Pride and stubbornness can often get in the way of forgiving someone, even if it feels like the right thing to do. Throughout the series we saw this happen with most of the girls when the boys majorly messed up. It can even feel anti-feminist to give in to a man that easily who has previously hurt you, but as the paragraph above states “Always trust your gut”. You may be very hurt and it might take a while to overcome the issue but when the time is right don’t be afraid to forgive and forget. Millie was the queen of ‘forgiving and forgetting’. She knew what her and Liam had was special and refused to give up on it. She made Liam work for it and once he proved himself she took him back with open arms. What I find the most remarkable is that she never mentioned his slip up after that, they moved on and carried on their relationship with no resentment. This is a really mature way to handle it and I think they both showed a lot of emotional maturity. I’m not saying you should forgive everyone that hurts you, but if they make a conscious effort to make it up to you and be a part of your life then don’t be too hard on yourself, leave your pride at the door and trust your instinct. Also, holding a grudge will make you angry and being angry causes wrinkles and that means more botox, as the wise Faye once said.
Boys suck
This I already knew, but the behaviour of the boys in the villa just proves it. None of them behaved themselves in Casa Amor, even our lord and saviour Teddy was a bit cheeky. The boys emotional maturity is just not the same as the girls and it really shows. the main villa stayed loyal while the Casa Amor boys couldn’t help but get a taste of what they were missing. Silly! I suppose this proves that no matter how amazing you are, sometimes it’s just the boys own stupidity that can make or break a situationship. I do have some hope because there was a lot of emotional growth inside the villa, especially from the likes of Toby and Liam. They realised they messed up and made amends. Lads at home take note!
Think before you pop off
Emotions run very high in the villa and we’ve seen some major blow ups between the cast members, in particular Faye. She is very quick to jump to the worst conclusion and pop off immediately. Watching this from the outside is really interesting because it never seems to end well. If you’re hot headed it’s good to take a step back from the situation for an hour or two or even sleep on it, because no good will come from trying to face it head on while smoke blows out your ears. It can be really hard to learn this type of self awareness but seeing it play out in front of you actually helps to put yourself in her situation. It’s definitely taught me to think before I act and remove myself from toxic situations. The fallout just isn’t worth it.
Self love comes first
“If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you going to love someone else?” – Rupaul says on every episode of Drag Race! This is one thing you should always remember. No one else can fix you, only you. It’s much more important to love yourself than to seek validation from others. Liberty realised that the way she treated herself was much more important than what Jake thought of her and how he made her feel. She chose to put herself first. She refused to change herself for anyone and learned to love herself. That’s much more important than falling in love with a silly boy. She did love Jake but she loved herself more (Samantha Jones energy). It can be hard to see this when you are in awe of someone and seek their love and approval, but the love you have for yourself is much more important and will stick with you for a lifetime.
Have Fun!
Falling in love and making new friends is fun! The best couples constantly laugh together, like Chloe & Toby. They crack me up and look so genuinely happy together. That’s what it should be all about. Even Faye and Teddy laugh together, although Faye says he isn’t funny (I doubt it, that man’s the full package). I only realised at the the end of the series, that ‘Unseen Bits’ on a Saturday night is when they show all the funny clips where the islanders are having loads of fun together. If you want a pick me up I would recommend watching it on the player!
Hello Chlo 