Olivia Hawkins was a hot topic on Love Island Twitter last night. Her attempt at reconciliation with Kai Fagan went down like a lead balloon after the 24-year-old teacher refused to apologise for implying she was ‘fake’ in the Casa Amor recoupling.
It’s a conversation that would typically warrant sympathy from viewers, the men of Love Island often berated for their mistreatment of women in the series. But last night, no one seemed to be on Olivia’s side – in fact, viewers actually celebrated Kai’s decision, dubbing him their new favourite for sticking to his guns.
Clearly, Olivia has become quite the divisive contestant this year. Why? Well, viewers have noticed a pattern in her behaviour that is making them feel… uneasy.
‘When Olivia couples with someone new, she doesn’t focus on the person. It’s always on the past guy and past one-sided beef,’ one viewer tweeted. ‘This can’t be someone that’s here for love.’
Thousands of likes and replies later, many seem to agree. They remember when Olivia was coupled up with Harris but obsessed over her flirtation with Tom, something that continued well into her coupling with Spencer, and even after she settled into her coupling with Kai she seemed to find an issue with Tanyel’s flirtation with Spencer. Now, post Casa Amor, she’s with Maxwell and yet her storyline is still fixated on Kai’s reaction to her coming back with him.
This pattern is Olivia’s fatal flaw when it comes to public support, because rather than getting to see the chemistry and compatibility of her current coupling, all we ever see is past drama with old flames. Perhaps if we bore witness to more of her conversations with Maxwell, the public would be able to better understand their connection and show them some much-needed love.
Of course, it’s worth noting that this is reality TV, filmed over 24 hours with only a portion edited together for the final show, and thus no one can really know what Olivia’s connections are like in the villa – nor her intentions being on the show. Rather than jumping on the hate-brigade (which must feel overwhelming leaving the villa to countless tweets), perhaps we should be thanking her for bringing some drama in an otherwise increasingly dry season.