When Ovie Soko entered the Love Island, it wasn’t just Anna Vakili’s prayers the producers were answering, it was all of ours. While Anna may have fumbled the 6' 7" bag of absolute glory, we still spent our evenings obsessing over everything he does. And just because love Island has come to an end, doesn't mean our love for Ovie has to. Because, now that he's out and has seen how much everyone wants to be or be near him, he's responded to the love in the best way.
'I don’t really get it,' he told the Daily Mail, 'I am overwhelmed by the love.'
CLASSIC Ovie, am I right? Humble, endearing and appreciative - it's everything we would expect from this perfect ensemble of beauty, brawn and brains. And if you need proof of that, here's every reason Ovie became the best Love Island contestant of all time...
First of all, look at him.
In Anna's famous words, 'Jordan, who?'. Even before we got to know his endearing personality, Ovie in all of his 6ft7 glory with those smiling eyes was a complete knock-out. Who can resist a hench, tattooed, well-accessorized man in pineapple-patterned shorts? Not us, apparently.
His style is impeccable
Anna might not have been there for all of his hats, as we saw on Love Island's Unseen Bits, but we certainly are. In fact, his accessory game his second to none. Alongside his endless headwear, his choice of fashionable glasses and jewellery have made him a whole style icon. Of course, none of that compares to his penchant for co-ords. The patterned shirt and shorts combination will no doubt land him endless fashion campaigns when he leave the Love Island villa, and we'll be buying them up for every man we know.
So much so that fashion brands are fighting over him
A hilarious thread between boohooMAN, Beauxnarrow, ASOS and Miss Selfridge went viral after Ovie became the obvious style icon of the series. Fighting over who was getting his first clothing contract when he leaves the villa, the brands attempted to meme each other off in competition for his name.
He is CATEGORICALLY the sexist male islander
The Love Island challenges might be overwhelmingly sexist this year, but Ovie's performance in the Men at Work challenge put all those embedded gender norms far from our mind. Winning the competition for sexiest male islander, he put on a show that had many reaching for a cold flannel.
He holds the other male Islanders accountable
Ovie isn't afraid to tell it how it is
1 of 1Ovie isn't afraid to tell it how it is
A job once championed by former villa hero, Michael, Ovie has swooped in where Michael failed us and has become the villa voice of reason. In fact, he's even turned the table on Michael himself, being the only person to pull him on his toxic behaviour towards Amber, and essentially serve him the same 'dickhead' advice he gave Danny way back at the start of the series when we thought he was an angel.
Asking Michael what he thinks about his approach to his conversation with Amber - where he rudely shouted at her to 'sit down' and ruthlessly told her he isn't going to pursue anything with her - he went on to say, 'Can you honestly say, man to man, the way you’re speaking to me now was the exact same way you spoke to her yesterday?'
'That whole situation is frustrating for you,' he continued, 'but then also you have to think about it from a standpoint of the exact way you told her to sit down, the exact way you spoke to her yesterday, if that had been your marge or your sister, and you were standing right there would you have just let that conversation run honestly?'
It was only when raising this issue with Michael, he said he would to apologise to Amber and ultimately resolved their conflict. Alas, Ovie proved that men holding each other accountable for bad behaviour is ultimately the best way to get through to them. Because, while it does prove that men care more about their social standing with other men than how they've hurt a woman, it's a necessity to ensure that men like Michael realise there are wider consequences for their actions.
He did it too with Anton Danyluk, when he quite clearly disrespected his partner, Belle Hassan, on multiple occasions, and Ovie was the only islander to explain that theres a fine line between 'lad banter' and upsetting your partner.
'There's a thin line between being a class clown and knowing when to say "my missus wouldn't have it",' he told Anton after his confrontation with Belle. Honestly, where was he this entire time when the men were acting up left right and centre? He's the Love Island hero we needed this entire time.
He has exemplary personal hygiene
Ovie's showering has become something of a meme this series, with the way he drowns himself in soap and scrubs for dear life being picked up by his fellow Islanders. Of course, he's literally just showering the way all of us should wash - but anything Ovie does at this point warrants an audience. And we're okay with it.
He gives the best advice
If there was ever a contestant in desperate need of Ovie's holistic advice, it's Amy Hart. Dealing with her first ever heartbreak on national TV, she went through a whirlwind of emotions. And despite receiving 12 therapy sessions while appearing on the show, the best advice came from our favourite contestant. Appearing on Loose Women, Amy revealed that Ovie said the following to her often:
'Love is like a potion and you have to drink it and sometimes it will choke you and make you sick but sometimes it will make you so inebriated that it's the best feeling in the world, but you have to drink the potion to find out which one it will be.'
He expresses negative emotions healthily
In last night's episode of Love Island, Ovie became an emblem of non-toxic masculinity when he broke down in tears having to vote out his only friend, George. His ability to cry on screen, unashamedly and without apology was so important to see, especially given the ITV2 shows largest demographic is 18-24 year olds. Having such a masculine role model express his hurt and upset in such a healthy way is a rarity on-screen, especially on shows like Love Island where so often toxic male traits are displayed and almost encouraged by fellow Islanders. Honestly, Ovie for Prime Minister.
He's completely secure in himself
One of the most endearing moments of the series that didn't appear on the main show - but was later shown on Love Island Unseen - was Ovie learning to swim. Unlike the rest of the boys, who have insecurities crawling out of every pore and are highly defensive about them, Ovie had no qualms learning a new - actually quite terrifying - skill on national TV.
He is endlessly positive
Making a cuppa? Dancing with joy. Watching your partner on a romantic date with someone else? Laughing. Just been dumped? Couldn't care less. Ovie is honestly an emblem for all positivity and we're absolutely here for it. Just look at him dancing to the sound of the kettle boiling! We are in love.
Case in point...
One of the best moments of the season came when a day after being dumped by Anna, he lay nonchalantly enjoying a Mr Freeze ice-pop on the sofa. A King enjoying his all-inclusive holiday.
His face never fails to capture the entire UK's mood
Whether he's sat back watching the drama unfold, reacting to a re-coupling or - like the above tweet - predicting a very awkward conversation about to happen, his responses to the Love Island plot twists always - hilariously - speak for the whole nation.
He protects our favourite girls
The moment we first began to fall in love with Ovie came during that fateful Casa Amor recoupling, when he reached across his partner Anna to comfort the just dumped Amber.Protecting them both with just one arm, he has proved a strong support system for both women - even after Anna ended up going back to Jordan.
We saw it when he hugged Amber as she cried following Michael's ruthless reaction to dumping her, then again when he got up to stand near Anna during her argument with Michael and every time since that Amber has felt down as he swoops in to make her laugh.
And since, they have developed the best Love Island friendship we've ever seen, with Amber saving him from being dumped in a recoupling calling him the 'funniest guy' she's ever met. Now, if only he could move from protective older brother to Amber's knight in shining armour, we would be very happy.
He resolves conflict well
Even when involved in his own drama, which is rare, he engaged in conflict with Anna in an admirable way. Despite his (one and only) heated reaction when he told Jordan 'go get your Mrs, you can have her' after the fateful argument, he generally held his own during the argument - making valid points, expressing his feelings and in the face of (let's be honest) quite a childish reaction, kept his cool. He has certainly gone above and beyond the rest of the boys in his handling of an awkward conversation, and to be honest, who can blame him for walking away from an argument that really wasn't going to end in any sort of resolve?
He has banter as well as beauty...
We didn't get to see much of Ovie's personality until his dinner with Amber, and despite being sat opposite the girl he wanted to be with - whom was on a date with someone else - he proved himself a fun date. Cracking jokes, doing great impressions and generally making Amber laugh more than we ever saw Michael do (tea), he clearly has a level of banter that supersedes a lot of what we've seen so far from the boys.
He’s saved Anna from inevitable dumping
One of our favourite girls has been getting quite a bad reputation recently. First came the (entirely unwarranted) calls of hypocrisy after she kicked off at Michael for re-coupling when she too had re-coupled (literally completely different situations, but ok). Then, the more-so warranted backlash against her handling of the Ovie-Jordan love triangle. It seems that without being partnered with Ovie, another third of our fave friendship group (that is Yewande, Anna and Amber) could have been lost - even her own family know it! Alas, she was saved and able to redeem herself as we knew she would, calling out Maura for being sly towards Amy when she admitted her feelings for Curtis. And so, Anna and Amber survive together for another - thank the Lord.
He's just f*cking adorable.
You might have been sobbing at Tommy asking Molly-Mae to be his girlfriend with her teddy (or cringing, same thing), but we the most heart-warmed by Ovie's reaction. As the islanders gathered to surprise the couple by making a heart-shape in the garden, Ovie endearingly asked 'can I be the bottom of the heart?' and the moment has since caused every woman in the world's ovaries to burst.
He doesn't even have to speak and men are threatened
In one of the best meme's to come out of Love Island this year, we saw Jordan greet Ovie with a reaction that you cannot help but laugh at. Taking in every inch of him, Jordan looked Ovie up and down with a look on his face that both screams 'oh shit' and 'fair enough'.
He has so. Much. Sauce.
Anna and Ovie laughing together in Casa Amor
1 of 1anna and ovie
We saw it within minutes of him entering Casa Amor, when Anna immediately asked 'Jordan, who?' upon meeting him. The flirting, laughing, great conversations all led to a very early first kiss that proved he not only has style and sex appeal, but a lot of sauce too.
He calls out the noughties classic ‘Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood’ when anyone gets a text
Now, we're just waiting for him to find love to see if his endless admirable qualities stand up in the face of the drama-filled world of Love Island dating. Or just, you know, realise that Amber is perfect for him and allow her to pull off the best post-Casa-Amor level up Love Island has ever seen.