Watching Maura and Elma enter the villa this week brought back a lot of memories for me, as they entered at pretty much the exact same time as myself and Ellie Brown last year. Ellie and I got on from the second we met and bonded because of our likeness. However, Maura and Elma seem to be worlds apart in personality, with Maura’s confidence in securing Tommy being a huge talking (and arguing) point of the villa.
I can only sympathise with the girls’ position. Entering the villa to an already solidified group of friends, where the majority of the couples are content and getting to know their other half’s was extremely difficult – and no doubt the new girls are feeling that all too well. Trying to infiltrate a group of friends is difficult enough in the outside world but in the villa – where there are so many big characters, with so many different sides – it makes trying to slot yourself in that little bit harder.
Similarly to Maura and Elma, Ellie and I had to pick three of the boys for a date. We were lucky that the other girls weren’t allowed to watch – instead they were shut in the living room and banned from coming outside during our dates. However, this year the other girls were allowed to watch from the roof terrace. The girls began taunting Elma and Maura. Maura fueled their rage by intentionally flirting with the boys even harder as a way of defending herself against the cackling. I can only imagine how that must have felt, because if that was me in their shoes I would have got extremely upset. You have to have a thick skin to enter the villa as a female bombshell.
Danny raised an interesting point also this week. He asked the original girls why they didn’t give the new girls the same open, warm welcome that he received? This touched a nerve for me. I was nodding my head at the TV, thinking back to the position I found myself in last year – the girls gave Ellie and I a particularly frosty reception when we entered the villa, yet Sam Bird was welcomed with open arms shortly afterwards. There is a very clear gender divide in the villa when it comes to new people entering the game. Perhaps it’s because inside that house the boys really stick together – they are all friends and are straight up with one another (or, that’s how I always saw it). When it comes to the girls, that sense of cohesiveness is missing. Smaller groups form within the larger one, which can leave people feeling left out or, worse, isolated.
And another thing…
Lastly, this week we have witnessed tension brewing towards Lucie and the other girls. The furor appears to have largely fueled by Amy and her reaction towards Lucie’s desire to spend her time in her couple, as well as being friendly with the other boys. This has resulted in a few spats between the girls as well as a lot of bitchiness behind Lucie’s back. Do I think Amy’s reaction has been just? Absolutely not. I definitely see a lot of myself in Lucie. She seems like a lovely, kind girl who doesn’t gel well with girls who gossip. I am exactly the same and last year instead spent a lot of my time in my couple instead of with the girls. This was because I found some of the friendships to be fake, I struggled to watch a girl be nice to another’s face as we’d all be doing our makeup together in the evenings, and then moments later be slating her behind her back. I commend you Lucie for wanting to stay drama free.
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