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Love Island Twitter is divided into two camps: Team Olivia or Team Zara - but it's Tom's indiciviness that is the real problem.
Love Island viewers have been encompassed by the battle between Olivia Hawkins and Zara Deniz Lackenby-Brown for Tom Clare's heart. When rumours swirled about Olivia and Zara's previous history, we all became obsessed with finding clues. While this is natural with the amounting drama - the nasty comments and vitrIol towards them online is not. The Love Island internet'stans'have firmly decided who they agree with and have decided to tear down the other.
Some fans are labelling Zara as 'aggressive,' which is a deeper conversation in itself around the potential racist undertones here. Whilst the other camp are labelling Olivia as 'overly emotional.' The demonisation of both women online is very cruel and I think many forget it is a reality TV show made for our entertainment. I think some viewers need to switch their energy from pitting two women against each other and discuss the root cause of the continued upset. Tom clearly has more chemistry with Zara. They are more intimate and he has voiced that he likes her many times. Tom also gravitates towards her day-to-day and only really speaks with Olivia when she pulls him for a chat. However, he still keeps Olivia on a string. Tom is attempting to have his cake and eat it too.
In the world ofreality TV, girl-on-girl fights rule the roost. It's passionate, addictive and keep many entertained. It's what provides a humming baseline to our own homegrown shows from Made In Chelsea, TOWIE and Married At First Sight; there is an expectation or hope that women will not get along. But how helpful is this reinforced stereotype?
Whilst it provides drama, it has lit the fire for nasty comments and the attempted take down of both women online. It's just not nice to watch play out. A lot of this is down to the social framework we exist within. For centuries the media have pitted women against women, repeatedly feeding us this old and exhausted narrative that women simply cannot exist peacefully together without some eruption of malicious friction.
Let's be honest, Tom is playing the game well. He clearly has a better connection with Zara but is also ensuring Olivia sticks around as a back up. He's just stringing Olivia along for the ride thus securing his place in the show. Tom's spoon feeding Olivia just enough attention to keep her interested, but not enough to develop anything further romantically. If he wanted to make a serious move - he would have.
We've seen it with Islanders in the past; like when Wes Nelson switched from Laura Anderson to Megan Barton-Hanson or when Maura Higgins gravitated towards Curtis Pritchard. Every time Olivia asks Tom about how he feels about her, he says the same tired speech, 'I had an instant connection with Zara but we can keep the door open between us.' The is no intention behind his words because that's all it is - just words.
Olivia's upset doesn't just stem from her arguments with Zara but also how Tom is continuously stringing her along. Yesterday, she tearfully admitted to Lana that she left the conversation with Tom still feeling 'confused.' After nearly two weeks of living together, she shouldn't still feel confused about his feelings. This confusion has obviously led to the continued heated arguments and the internet taking sides.
At the end of the day, the ball is in Tom's court. Whilst it is only week two - he should be a bit more honest with his intentions. For example, Shaq, Ron and Kai have all explored other options but have now settled with their partners. They have all nipped possible love triangle situations in the bud and haven't dragged out the process. This also ensures less upset for everyone.
Tom has repeatedly said he 'doesn't want to hurt anyone,' but by keeping them both in the dark he is only hurting them both...
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