After his stint on Love Island last year, many were obsessed – even more than the drama unfolding on our screens – with Ronnie Vint's hairline. And with the islander back in the villa for All Stars, the discourse is already unfolding (again).
Usually the body-shaming commentary surrounding Love Island is exclusively reserved for the girls, but in recent years, we've seen the boys being targeted too. Last year saw an abundance of speculation about Harriet Blackmore and Nicole Samuel’s filler use, but none on par with the level of heat faced by Ronnie Vint’s hair.
Now, months later, it seems his barnet still garners just as much attention. With Ronnie entering the All Stars villa and being partnered up with Elma Pazar, fans took to social media to share their thoughts.
'Ronnie and his hair fibre spray are officially back,' wrote one, as another jibed, 'So Ronnie couldn't go back to Turkey and fix his hair?'
Essentially, Love Island viewers want to know all about the football player’s hair-do - even going to so far as to ask if Ronnie Vint is wearing a wig or had undergone a hair transplant.
What is going on with Ronnie's hair?
Commentary surrounding Ronnie’s hair reached fever pitch last year when dumped Islanders Patsy Field and Munveer Jabbal revealed the secret to Ronnie’s hair. A topic of fascination for viewers at home, Munveer revealed, ‘He was very open about it. He spoke to the boys and it’s basically hair fibers. The full backs are gone, but he’s using hair fibers. He owns it.’
Apparently that’s also why he sleeps pretty much upright - with Patsy adding, ‘He doesn’t want anything to drop or fall’.
According to L’Oreal, hair fibres are ‘lightweight, teeny-tiny fibres made of keratin protein’. Like a powder, the fibres cling to the hair and scalp in order to mask the appearance of thinning hair or balding spots.
And after leaving the villa, Ronnie addressed his hairline while appearing on Olivia Attwood's So Wrong It's Right podcast. Ronnie - who is best pals with Olivia's husband, Brad - explained, 'If I haven't got powder in, my hairline's back in Mallorca. I use a topic fibre. When I wash my hair, it's like nothing. My hair's there, obviously, but it just fills in the little gaps.'
Olivia then asked whether the reason Ronnie's hair routine was never shown onscreen was because he had asked to keep it secret - with him saying, 'Everyone I spoke to about it if they asked me, I'd say, 'Listen, look' - I was so open about it! That's why I was surprised that the show didn't use it, because it was such a big thing. It wasn't like I was running off to put the powder in.'
There you have it. To shut speculation down nice and early, Ronnie's A_ll Stars_ look is exactly the same as last summer - his own hair, with some hair fibre to help!
Ultimately though, it shouldn’t matter what’s going on with Ronnie's hair. Is Ronnie's hair fibre evening out his locks really that different to the girls' hair extensions galore?
According to Health Direct, Male Pattern Baldness is a condition that affects one in every five men in their 20s, one in every three men in their 30s and one in every two men in their 40s. And much like for women, hair can be an extremely important part of a man’s identity...
In fact, TikTok star Rhys Strougler – who subs himself as an ‘ex-baldy’ - has opened up about his own struggles with hair loss saying, ‘Going bald as a man is actually such a freaking hard thing. I don't think women actually understand just how hard it is.
‘It's part of your identity, and when you go bald, you lose a bit of yourself. It's horrible.’
Hair fibres or not, Ronnie certainly seems to be doing alright for himself when it comes to the attentions of the girls. With All Stars only just beginning, we're sure plenty is to come...
Charlotte Roberts is a news and entertainment writer at Grazia UK. She spends her days covering everything celebrity, culture, and entertainment.