It didn’t take long for Love Island 2023 to make people uncomfortable, since two Islanders had previously met… However, only one of them recalls. Yikes.
In the first episode, Ella Thomas and Tyrique Hyde were partnered up after the public played Cupid and determined which Islanders would be placed together in a series twist.
Their first meeting, however, did not go so well since, well, it wasn’t their first meeting.
Ella asked Tyrique, after a little awkward embrace and kiss, ‘Do you recall we’ve met before?’
He appeared to be completely bewildered.
‘When?’ he questioned, and you could see the wheels in his mind working quickly.
‘Not even that long ago,’ Ella laughed.
‘Where?’, he asked.
‘In London,’ Ella confirmed.
To buy himself some time to consider, he said, ‘We’ll chat in a little.’
When host Maya Jama asked Tyrique if the public got it right by matching him with Ella, he answered, ‘I believe so, absolutely. She has a lovely appearance.’
Ella then acknowledged that she was ‘feeling’ Tyrique as well, but didn’t want to say too much too soon.
Ella was able to refresh Tyrique’s memories as the new couple spent more time together.
‘As soon as I saw you, I recognised you,’ she told him.
‘Do you know what, now that you say that…’, he replied, trying to dig himself out of a hole.
Ella then added that she had blonde hair when they first met, thus in Tyrique’s justification, she does appear different now that she is a brunette.
‘Oh my days! I do remember you!’, he declared. ‘You look mad different now!’
He then paid Ella a complement by saying she looked “nicer now.”
‘The thing with Ella is, she had different hair then so I genuinely didn’t recognise her,’ Tyrique said later in the beach hut.
Nonetheless, viewers were there to cringe.
‘Ella is clearly p***ed that Tarique didn’t remember her and I get it lol’, one viewer tweeted.
tyrique lying he doesn't remember ella 😭😭 #LoveIsland
— Simi🌺 (@maggiesxrose) June 5, 2023
Tyrique don’t remember Ella but he’s scared what the story might be if she has to remind him #LoveIsland pic.twitter.com/gkCI3gsqhE
— mancman (@ddd000001000) June 5, 2023
The way Tyrique just lied 😭😂 that boy doesn’t remember Ella lol #LoveIsland pic.twitter.com/u0Jvle0XF5
— 2 Seater🚗 𐚁 (@EdnaLeroy) June 5, 2023
Ella: He’s (Tyrique) literally acting like he doesn’t remember me.
Girl… please. It’s embarrassing.#LoveIsland
— Aliya Langley (@aliyalangley) June 5, 2023
Another sought the juicy information, given that we still don’t know how the two met.
‘we didn’t get enough tea on tyrique and ella, like what’s the history did you guys knack or just mutuals’, a viewer tweeted.
‘Tyrique lied through his teeth. He doesn’t remember Ella at all but she wasn’t going to let it go’, another wrote, not believing that Tyrique actually did realise who Ella was.
Another joked: ‘Tyrique trying so hard to remember Ella and it’s not coming to him’.
‘The way Tyrique just lied, that boy doesn’t remember Ella lol’, another laughed.
Let’s hope the tea is spilled in episodes to come…
Love Island continues tomorrow night at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
