Last night, Love Island gossip managed to break the internet despite there being no Summer series to obsess about. Maura Higgins and Chris Taylor went Instagram official after months of speculation that they were dating. Telling followers they’re ‘in love’, the picture was all anyone could talk about.
Why? Because it’s not just in the last few months fans have been convinced of their romance, the two have been shipped ever since they first appeared on the show. While they never really dated, they were in a couple and quite clearly had a lot of chemistry. Alas, their romance was very much in the friendzone while they pursued other people and only since leaving the villa have rumours flown about their obvious connection.
Given how passionately their fellow Islanders responded to the news, it seems fans were always onto something. ‘FINALLYYYYY’ Maura’s BFF Molly-Mae Hague commented on the picture, with Tommy Fury adding ‘About time’ and others saying ‘I knew it! Perfect for each other’.
Well, as these Love Island BFF’s become more than friends, it seems now everyone is recounting exactly when they predicted this was bound to happen.
And they weren’t wrong, just take a scroll through these obvious signs they were always meant to be from Love Island 2019 itself…
When Chris pied Maura in the challenge
Re-watching the Snog, Marry, Pie challenge of 2019 with hindsight, it’s safe to say Chris’s smile was far too wide to be natural when Maura approached his end of the line-up only to kiss Curtis Pritchard. He went on to pie her when it was his turn, and if that isn’t school yard flirting we don’t know what is.
When Chris already had a tattoo of Maura’s face on his body
As is classic for any Love-Island appropriate man, Chris is covered in the ultimate LAD tattoos. A clock on his forearm, an owl on his chest and quite notably a woman that looks exactly like Maura on his left pectoral. At the time, many fans felt it was a clear sign the two should couple up – after all, you can’t really deny fancying someone when a replica of their face is inked on your body for the rest of your life.
Catch a glimpse of it in this post where Chris continues his schoolboy attempts at flirting (no judgement here Chris, they worked, didn't they?)...
Quite problematically, said woman is wearing an ancient Indian headdress and Native American groups condemned his tattoo as cultural appropriation when it was first noted – perhaps now he’ll finally get it reworked to just simply be of Maura…
When they coupled up
After Francesca swooped in to couple up with Curtis Pritchard in the last weeks of Love Island 2019, Maura was left to choose between her Chris and Marvin. Despite not knowing Chris too long at this point, clearly Cupid was shining down on them as she decided to couple up with him.
‘He’s a lovely guy, he’s settled into the villa very well and I really want to give this person the chance to find love,’ she said during the recoupling that sent Marvin home after two weeks in the villa.
When he made Maura almost wee herself on their date
After Maura and Chris ended up in a friendship couple on Love Island, their obvious chemistry is what sparked fans interest in them dating. On one particular evening, the islanders had dinner in their couples and after losing a bet, Chris was forced to do a bird impression around the other tables. While everyone looked on in confusion and horror, Maura sat at the table crying laughing, saying ‘I’m going to pee my pants’.
If making someone almost wee laughing on a first date isn’t a sign of true love, who knows what is!
When they didn't rule out dating during the reunion show
If you managed to catch the ‘What happened next’ episodes of Love Island last month, you may’ve noticed one particular scene where Maura reunited with Chris, Michael, Jordan and Danny at their house-share in Essex. After Maura made a classic sex joke of hers, the topic of them being shipped by fans was brought up.
‘Maybe someday we might be friends with benefits,’ Maura laughed at the time – but from Chris’s spiel about how well-suited they are, it was pretty clear then that he was as in love as he says he is in his latest Instagram.
Click through for 11 reasons Love Island season two was top tier...
11 Reasons Love Island Season Two Was Best
1 of 11Everyone was at it, every hour of the day
Remember how these days there's a surprising lack of sex? Cut to season two when literally everyone was romping 24/7, pretty much in front of each other simultaneously. We had Alex Bowen and Zara Holland's infamous night in the hideaway, that problematically cost her her Miss GB title, Sophie Gradon and Tom Powell's big wardrobe moment, Terry Walsh and Emma-Jane Woodham having sex ON TOP OF THE COVERS IN FRONT OF EVERYONE... it got to the point where Nathan Massey would commentate each couples romps as if they were at the races. If that isn't the Love Island content you came for, then you're the only one in the world...
2 of 11It was the first time an islander was removed from the villa
These days, we rarely see big blowouts between contestants. But then again, there hasn't been a Kady McDermott this series.Fireworks flew in season two when Malia Arkian took Scott Thomas on a date while he was coupled up with Kady. Returning to the villa, Kady made an effort to sit next to Malia so she didn't feel uncomfortable, and then accidentally spilt a drink on her. Malia took this to be purposeful, and started a full-blown row with Kady that resulted in her pushing her by the pool. Of course, Malia was removed from the villa, because, as much as we think Love Island is low-brow, it's no Geordie Show, violence SIMPLY won't stand darling...
3 of 11There were tons of dramatic voluntary exits
The best of which came when Rachel Fenton was voted off the island by her fellow contestants, to which Rykard Jenkins dramatically declared 'If you've got a good girl mate you can't really let her go so, i'm out' before chasing her down the beach. Then, Sophie Gradon similarly followed her heart after Tom Powell was voted out of the villa. Having tried and failed to make a new relationship work with Katie Salmon, she asked the Love Island dog - yes, there was a Love Island dog, that should be a reason in itself to be honest - 'shall we go home and see Tom?', before telling her other, very supportive contestants 'my time is done'.
4 of 11The challenges were much more savage
In season two, our entertainment was peaked by the mugged off challenge. The savagery was on another level, as contestants not only had to guess who had mugged who off - in a move that finally outed Malin as the one told the boys Olivia slept with Rykard - they also had to throw cold tea in each others faces. Great TV.
5 of 11The first ever ex-partner was thrown in
Producers first pulled this move back in 2016, throwing in Emma to ruffle Tom's feathers. Not only did Emma cause a stir by coupling up with Terry so soon after Malin left, but Tom and Sophie's suspicion of Emma gave us a good few episodes of drama.
6 of 11It was the birth of the Love Island hot-take
If there is any reason to justify watching Love Island in all of it's tasteless glory, it's the shows ability to give you something to talk about at work the next day. We've seen endless hot takes come out of Love Island since season two, whether it's discussions around feminism, slut-shaming or sexphobia- think of a take and I guarantee you'll find it online. This came to fruition with our beloved 2016 series, after Zara Holland lost her Miss GB title because she slept with Alex Bowen. Cue instant fury and boycotting of the Miss GB pagent. Without this infamous Love Island moment, we never would've realised how many opinions you can form from a show about beautiful people in bikinis fancying each other.
7 of 11There were MANY more relatable moments
Love Island draws you in with it's ability to create a relatable-moment. This could not be truer of season two, when the contestants were so well-plucked that we found ourselves glued to their emotional journey. Whether it was Sophie's amazing ability to articulate why women can sleep with whoever they want, or Olivia's fears about Alex messing her about, or Malin's fury at Terry moving on so quickly- there was a personality in there that everyone could relate to.
8 of 11The cast had much more integrated friendships, and they were adorable
Olivia was just as close to Cara as she was to Rykard, and all of the contestants were equally as invested in their friendships as they were each others relationships- making for a lot more drama. We saw the adorable friendship of Cara and Olivia that has outlasted many of the shows relationships, Nathan's ability to bring the entire group together and Alex and Terry's unspoken bromance.
9 of 11The return of Malin was TV gold
We didn't need Casa Amor in season two, oh no. The contestants created all the drama themselves without necessary divides or savage separations. Terry unceremoniously moving onto Emma just days after Malin left the villa had us all shocked, only for our jaws to end up on the floor when Malin returned to confront Terry. If Terry's face doesn't say it all I don't know what will...
10 of 11There was the first ever same sex couple
Katie entered, told the girls she's bisexual and subsequently started dating Sophie. Not only was it a first for the show, it enabled the girls to educate the boys that their extremely over-excited reaction was problematic- with Cara explaining to Nathan that lesbianism does not exist for the male gaze, in a round about way.
11 of 11It was much more sex positive
The peak of the series came in Sophie's pagent speech, which she devoted to Zara, eloquently explaining the double-standard women experience for having sex. Shouting to the world 'women like to have sex!', it was a season highlight and still tops our list as the best Love Island moment of all time.