The Love Island contestants were left shocked on Friday night as two new islanders entered the villa – but not for the first time.
Viewers will see Jessie Wynter, 26 and Aaron Waters, 25, enter the villa on Sunday night’s episode of the ITV2 show and shake things up.
But in a new twist to the show, it turns out the pair are already Love Island veterans and appeared in the Australian version of the series.
Surprise! The Love Island contestants were left shocked on Friday night as two new islanders entered the villa – but not for the first time
Jessie appeared in the 2019 series of Love Island Australia and made quite the impression.
During her stint on the show, she coupled up with four different men and also sent fans’ wild with her savage one-liners and drama-filled antics.
The personal trainer, who was originally from Tasmania but now lives in Sydney, has a whopping 300,000 followers on Instagram already.
Jessie has not been in a relationship since her last stint on Love Island, but admitted she does get lonely and that she thinks it’s time to settle down.
Shock! The contestants couldn’t believe it when two new bombshells entered the villa on Friday night
Causing trouble: Viewers will see Jessie Wynter, 26 and Aaron Waters, 25, enter the villa on Sunday night’s episode of the ITV2 show and shake things up
Friends and family would describe her as a ‘wild child’, she said.
‘If there’s something I want to do I will go and do it, no matter how many times I’m told not to. I am very much the “fun friend”‘, she explained.
Jessie also admitted her faults when it comes to relationships: ‘I probably do need to take a little responsibility – I do travel and move around a lot. When it comes to a relationship, I think I get scared.
‘If there’s someone I genuinely like, for some reason I back away or I start telling myself they’re too good for me. I always end up doing the opposite of what I should be doing, so in the Villa I’ll have to face those emotions.’
Here they come! In a new twist to the show, it turns out the pair are already Love Island veterans and appeared in the Australian version of the series
Here she is! Jessie appeared in the 2019 series of Love Island Australia and made quite the impression
Heading into the villa, Jessie intends to keep it ‘very raw’ and ‘take things as they come’.
Male model Aaron is also heading into the villa, after reaching the final of the Australian version in 2021.
He eventually finished runner-up with Jess Velkovsk, after an explosive journey which saw her accused of gaslighting him after a furious row.
Sex bomb! During her stint on the show, she coupled up with four different men and also sent fans’ wild with her savage one-liners and drama-filled antics
But Aaron is certain this time round will be more successful, labelling the opportunity as ‘divine timing’ and the ‘perfect’ chance for him to meet someone.
The series three hunk describes himself as: ‘loyal, honest, great at communication and self-awareness. I’m also very good looking, obviously!’
Aaron also shared the lessons he learnt from last time round, explaining: ‘I’ve learnt that it’s not always what meets the eye.
Drama! Jessie has not been in a relationship since her last stint on Love Island, but admitted she does get lonely and that she thinks it’s time to settle down
‘Attraction is one thing, but making a connection and being able to build something with somebody is another. When I was in the Love Island Australia Villa, I didn’t open myself up to other opportunities that I could’ve possibly had. This time round I want to be testing the waters by being open-minded and giving everyone a chance.
‘In terms of my experience in the previous Villa, I went in there wanting to be myself and I can truly say I felt comfortable in myself in every way so I’d never change it.’
Bosses may be hoping that these new arrivals can bring enough drama to boost ratings, which have continued to plunge despite an explosive episode on Thursday.
Good-looking! Male model Aaron is also heading into the villa, after reaching the final of the Australian version in 2021
The episode, which saw a huge fight erupt between Haris Namani and Shaq Muhammad, reached a peak of 810,000 viewers, according to overnight figures.
While this number is likely to increase when catch-up and late viewers are included, it is still a drastic drop from its consolidated number of 4.11 million viewers who watched the same episode last series in 2022.
It comes, after an average of just 900,000 viewers watched Wednesday’s episode.
Plenty of drama! He eventually finished runner-up with Jess Velkovsk, after an explosive journey which saw her accused of gaslighting him after a furious row
It follows on from a disappointing launch show that pulled in an average of just over 1million TV viewers as new host Maya Jama made her debut and a new host of singletons stepped out.
The first episode of the winter series saw an average of 1.2million viewers watch the latest batch of Islanders enter the South African villa, overnight figures showed.
It was a staggering 1.2million down from 2022’s summer debut episode, which saw an average of 2.4million TV viewers tune in at the time.
Oh dear! It’s hoped that this new twist could help boost Love Island’s ratings, which continued to plunge on Thursday with an average of just 626,000 viewers tuning in
The arrival of the two new Aussie bombshells come after David Salako was the first Love Islander to leave the villa on Friday night after the first recoupling of the series.
The 24-year-old bombshell had been cracking on with Tanya Manhenga since entering, but Friday night’s episode saw her choose Shaq Muhammad.
As the boys gathered around the fire pit, the girls were given their pick of who to couple up with.
First to go: David Salako was the first Love Islander to leave the villa on Friday night after the first recoupling of the series
Lana Jenkins was the last to step forward – with only David and Will young left to be chosen.
Hoping to couple up with someone else, Lana admitted she was in a ‘s**t’ situation and chose to couple up with Will.
She said: ‘I’ve decided to couple up with this boy, although this decision is s**t, this guy has been consistent in showing me a lot of attention and he’s always really funny.’
Though she chose Will she had presumably been hoping to couple up with Ron Hall – who made clear earlier in the episode that he was only interested in her.
Moment of truth: As the boys gathered around the fire pit, the girls were given their pick of who to couple up with
Things heated up between Lana and Ron as they shared a kiss on the balcony after Ron told Zara he had stronger feelings for the blonde.
But Tanyel wasn’t about to let that stop her from choosing Ron in the recoupling, leaving Lana forced to choose Will, who she sees as more of a friend.
After Tanyel chose Ron, Lana was immediately seen tearing up, to which Tanyel said: ‘I feel so bad’.
Awkward: The 24-year-old bombshell had been cracking on with Tanya Manhenga since entering, but Friday night’s episode saw her choose Shaq Muhammad
In fact, viewers praised Ron Hall earlier in the episode for letting down Zara Lackenby-Brown gently on Friday’s episode of Love Island.
They were flirting since she arrived in the villa but things have come to an end between the pair.
Bombshell Zara pulled Ron for a chat while he was speaking with Lana Jenkins, who he is currently coupled up with.
However, the conversation didn’t appear to go to plan as Ron told Zara that he has got ‘really close’ with Lana – and kissed her mere minutes later.
Smooch: However, the conversation didn’t appear to go to plan as Ron told Zara that he has got ‘really close’ with Lana – and kissed her mere minutes later
Ron said: ‘I’ve had that connection from her with the start. Instead of investing 75pc of my energy in one girl and then exploring…’
Zara said: ‘Do you not feel like you owed me a conversation about that?’
Ron replied: ‘It’s only after seeing you building things with Tom.’
End of the road: Viewers have praised Ron Hall for letting down Zara Lackenby-Brown gently on Friday’s episode of Love Island
Taking it on the chin, Zara said: ‘Hmm ok. I really rate Lana, I like her.’
Moments later, Ron and Lana headed up to the balcony where he told her about his conversation with Zara.
He told her: ‘I spoke to Zara, she’s out of the picture.’
Ron then leaned in and gave her a kiss, with Lana saying in the Beach Hut: ‘It genuinely feels like he has a connection with me. This is a step in the right direction.’
The islanders now coupled up are: Tanya and Shaq, Anna-May and Kai, Zara and Tom, Tanyel and Ron, Lana and Will and Olivia and Haris.
