Love Island isn’t exactly the type of place you'd expect to go for solid life advice. But this year’s show has taken us on a journey, and it’s been a long and winding road. From slut shaming, to the ‘ick factor,’ the show on everyone’s radar is dosing up a daily source of drama that most likely has a significant relevance to our lives.
Take last night’s episode. The dreaded lie detector one. Ah yes, THAT episode. Most couples aired out some issues, from Chris and Olivia arguing over Chris’ question choices to Gabby supposedly ‘lying’ about her feelings for Marcel (let’s remember though, we don’t know how accurate these detectors are) but the one lie everyone’s discussing is that of Camilla. Camilla was asked by her in-house beau, Jamie, if she thought they were compatible. She answered yes, but the lie detector said she was lying. Alaaaarm bells. Why was she lying? Because she didn’t think she was good enough for Jamie. She confided in her close friend, Montana, stating that she tries to fight those feelings of not feeling good enough, but she just can’t. We feel for you, Cam. We do. We’ve all been there and felt like a guy is too good for us and that one day the relationship will go tits up when he cheats or finds someone better. We have. Montana probably has too.
So why are fans so mad at Montana for Camilla’s feelings? Later in the show, Montana had a chat with Georgia, admitting that she was ‘finding it fucking hard (with Camilla)’ as ‘being close with her is quite draining she’s someone that needs picking up. She’s very sensitive compared to the average person.
‘I’ve had to take some steps back from her which is such a shame.’
This, naturally, caused outrage on Twitter with viewers labelling her a shit or ‘lousy’ friend.’ Tweets about her being ‘two-faced’ and ‘nasty’ and that it’s Montana’s fault that ‘Camilla has confidence issues.’
But can we just pause for a minute? Why is it, that because Montana has had to take a step back from a potentially draining relationship that she’s feeling overwhelmed by, we automatically brand her a bad friend? Yes, maybe Montana should speak to Camilla directly about this and explain why she needs to step back – and hopefully Camilla would take it on board like an adult and respect Montana for bringing this to her attention. But calling Montana out for choosing to take time out from a friendship is all-consuming and hard, at times, is wrong.
Montana didn’t say anything malicious about Camilla, she didn’t label her, she didn’t call her a nasty name. She has made a choice to step back, and allow Camilla to accept that she is good enough - probably because she has tried, like she stated in the show, time and time again to make Camilla feel good about herself and it isn’t enough.
Let’s also remember that the villa is a condensed space, where Montana has probably been, and will continue to be, a great source of support for Camilla. At times that can become too much when you’re the only person taking that stress on, so stepping back to have a breather is as much about Camilla’s wellbeing as it is Montana’s.
We’ve all got that one friend that needs constant validation, and that’s no bad thing, but there comes a point where you’ve told them how wonderfully amazing they are a thousand times and it just isn’t enough. There’s only so much one friend can do before it’s time to accept that the issues run deeper, and more help might be needed. When that time comes, you’re being a better friend by allowing them to figure it out on their own, and taking some space – like Montana, has. In an ideal world, Montana would have told all this to Camilla. So, here’s hoping she does so Cam can realise that not only is she good enough for Jamie, she’s good enough for anyone she damn well likes.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.