Historically, your Love Island contestants seem to fall into some very familiar cookie cutter categories. There’s those destined for Boohoo Man deals, signed for Pretty Little Thing collections, and simply made to plug bizarre diet teas to their thousands of Instagram followers.
Then, every so often, the show blesses us with someone different – and this year, it comes in the form of Farmer Will.
Will Young is just one of the islanders currently in the South African villa, and there’s no denying he isn’t your typical islander. Blonde hair and blue eyed, the TikTok star is well-known for posting videos of his life on the farm, dancing with sheep and frolicking in mud.
But whilst the 23 year old has been branded the ‘joke’ of the villa and friendzoned by his fellow islanders, one look at Twitter shows that Will is entirely the type of islander viewers want to see – and maybe, just maybe, the show should be prioritising personality over everything else.
Winning over fans with his cheesy one liners, hilarious dance moves, and all round safe space energy, fans of the show are making it heard that Will is exactly the type of islander we've been longing for.
Taking to Twitter, user @Elhullxnd shared, ‘Everyone saying Farmer Will doesn’t belong on Love Island, but he has the type of personality I wanna be watching for six weeks rather than people just looking to boost their platform and get brand deals.’
One Twitter user shared, ‘Despite Will being cringe, I’d argue he has the most personality among the boys currently,’ with another adding ‘They need to make a Love Island for silly people.’
Another user wrote, ‘Will is not wrong when he said all the boys beside himself have a dead personality.’
Another agreed, writing ‘Will is a perfect example of how funny dudes are the best. You can have the body of a Greek God, but if you’ve got the personality of a soggy sock then it’s a no from me.’
And when Will found himself potentially at risk of jetting off home in the first dumping, viewers ran to social media to share just how much they wanted the young farmer to stay – with some even threatening to ‘turn off’ if he goes.
Pleading with TV bosses, one fan wrote, ‘Love Island needs to introduce a public save measure. Someone like Will who brings so much energy and personality doesn’t need to be going home.’
Another shared, ‘Protect Will at all costs! We’ve been begging for ordinary/normalish people with a little bit more personality for years.’
But underneath the love for Will lies a slightly more problematic term – what exactly do we mean by ‘normal’?
Like an itch you can’t scratch, prioritising looks over personality has long been one of the TV show’s most irritating faults. Filling the villa with outrageously (and stereotypically) gorgeous people, long-term viewers of the show how voiced how every single season has slowly become the same – with many new islanders having love at the bottom of their priority list, underneath ‘grow Instagram followings’ and ‘sign a brand deal.’
And part of Will’s appeal (or lack of, in the eyes of the villa girls) seems to be that, as one viewer puts it, 'Will is not built for Love Island – especially this year.'
To some, it seems possible that Love Island producers have set Will up to fail by surrounding him in a villa where toxic masculinity and harmful stereotypes run riot. Whilst Will is indeed intended to be the ‘normal’ islander we’ve all longed for, it doesn’t work when he’s a lone wolf - and normal is quickly transformed into 'kooky' and 'weird'.
Within minutes of being on screen, Will had become the butt of jokes – with some viewers taking to his TikTok comments to brand his flirting as ‘painful’ and ‘embarrassing.’
Discussing Will’s treatment on the show, one fan shared, ‘Why does everyone keep saying Will is not made for Love Island? If I was in the island, I’d actually go for him because he’s the only guys giving personality right now.’
Another agreed, sharing ‘Will is cute and fun. I hate how the guys with zero personality get praised when the quirkier ones get friendzoned.’
Hitting the nail on the head, one fan of the show shared ‘I wish Love Island had more people on it that are average good looking with normal jobs, because I swear people that have 10/10 looks generally have zero personality as they’ve gotten through life on their looks alone. Get these influencer types out my face.’
This isn’t to say that Will isn’t attractive. Far from it – one look at Twitter shows that, for many, he’s the islander we’d all be fighting over in the real world. But he does seem to symbolise a new kind of islander – and an islander we all want to see. Someone who is funny, honest, and stands out from the crowd.
As much as Love Island viewers want personality prioritised, so should the contestants themselves – because, as the boys discussed after pulling the girls for chats, it isn’t all about looks. Islanders being unapologetically themselves is frankly the breath of fresh air the TV show really needs.
So if there’s anything that can keep our TV screens turned on, it’s a whole lot more Will.