Olivia Hawkins and Zara Deniz Lackenby of Love Island Brown may have known each other outside of the villa, but when they addressed the tension that had been building between them, they omitted to acknowledge their apparent history.
Last night’s episode of the ITV2 programme featured the islanders, who are currently in South Africa, engaging in a friendly game of dare beer pong… However, things rapidly became awkward.
Zara, a newcomer to the cast, was challenged to kiss a participant on both cheeks who she would characterise as two-faced, and she chose Olivia.
As Olivia was left feeling ‘humiliated’ by Zara’s decision, fans who located the two on Instagram noticed that they’d previously engaged, exchanging comments in the comment section.
Nonetheless, when they came face to face on Friday night’s programme to discuss what transpired in the beer pong game, there was no mention of them knowing each other beforehand.
Olivia said that she wanted to postpone their conversation until the next day because she was worried about saying something inappropriate in the heat of the moment.
They were able to put the misunderstanding to rest when Zara revealed that she chose Olivia for the challenge because she thought she would take it as ‘banter,’ rather than a personal slight.
‘I didn’t mean to hurt you,’ Zara insisted, as Olivia replied: ‘I felt humiliated. I’m just telling you how I felt.’
Olivia stressed that while she ‘can take banter’, she found being called ‘two-faced’ as a ‘personal’ insult.
‘The last thing I’d want to do is hurt you,’ Zara emphasised, as Olivia told her that she’d accepted the apology.
Speaking in the Beach Hut on her own, Olivia shared: ‘I was reluctant to speak to her tonight, but I’m glad I squashed it,’ before adding: ‘I think she knew what she was doing and she did pick me for a reason.’
Several viewers at home considered it weird that neither of the women indicated that they had previously met in the real world.
‘They only show us what they wanna show us so if Zara and Olivia really do know each other, they’ve spoken off air trust,’ one person speculated.
‘I was wondering why Olivia was so convinced Zara was trying to get a rise out of her when they just met but they actually know each other outside? Interesting,’ another remarked.
Love Island returns tomorrow at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
