It’s official, the summer of love is nearly over as the sun sets on Love Island 2021.
After a somewhat slow start, this series finally lived up to its high expectations and provided us with some much-needed TV gold over the last few weeks.
From the iconic Casa Amor recoupling, to couples being on-and-off (and on again – we’re looking at you, Chloe and Toby), series seven has brought drama, an abundance of love and one very questionable talent show.
Ahead of Monday night’s grand finale – where one couple will walk away with the £50,000 prize fund – here’s a roundup of our favourite viral moments that we’re still *puts on Lucinda’s voice* reallllllyyyy obsessed with...
1. Hugo’s recoupling speech
One of the most fiery fire pit moments this year was undoubtedly Hugo’s speech after Toby coupled up with Abi instead of Chloe. It marked the turning point of the series, as we saw our first real glimpse of drama.
Throwing a number of shady comments at his fellow islander Toby, Hugo said of Chloe: “She doesn’t deserve to be treated how she has been this past 24 hours.”
His speech was obviously met with some iconic facial reactions from the Islanders, which were immediately turned into memes.
2. Mary and Millie’s talent show efforts
Picture this – it’s Christmas Day and your cousins are performing their talent show to your family... oh wait, you don’t have to imagine after this particular Love Island moment.
From a rendition of Grease’s You’re The One That I Want, to two semi-pro footballers showing their (lack of) tricks, the Love Island 2021 Talent Show scene was jam-packed with debatable ‘skills’.
However, the real stand-out acts for us were Millie and her keyboard take on Ed Sheeran’s Perfect, and Mary’s tap dancing, both of which left the fellow Islanders – and indeed viewers – speechless.
3. Faye trying her hardest to be unbothered at AJ’s arrival
Despite some of Faye’s more fiery moments causing controversy, her unbothered energy when new bombshell AJ entered the villa was a real mood.
All the other girls were peeking over the terrace to get a first look, but Faye remained the queen of reactions as she filed her nails and emphasised how unbothered she was: “I’m not bothered at all, AT ALL.”
We totally believed her...
4. Rachel slides head-first into a fence
A rare moment of silence fell in the Line of Booty challenge as Rachel was whisked off her feet, but sadly not by Brad.
Coming down the slide at speed, we saw Rachel going head first into the fence and later recalling the event as “tragic”.
Luckily, she was OK, but we can still feel the pain.
5. Toby’s unusual reaction to losing Sports Day
The internet was left confused when Toby’s immediate reaction to his team losing Sports Day was to start lifting weights.
However, we weren’t the only ones left baffled as many of his fellow islanders were also unsure as to what was going on.
6. Priya getting the ick from Brett over... Brie?!
Now we’ve heard of a lot of reasons for getting ‘the ick’ but being put off by thinking your partner’s favourite cheese was Brie? Well that is unheard of.
Cheese-lover Priya struggled to picture a future with Brett as she thought his choice of favourite cheese was quite boring. Maybe it’s a Gouda idea to start choosing our partner’s based on their favourite cheese from now on?
FYI, Brett later confirmed that he never said that and in fact he isn’t really a fan of cheese at all.
7. Hugo’s job being “done”
Many of us would probably love to hear some words of encouragement or affection after our first kiss with a new partner. However, Hugo took a slightly different approach after locking lips with Amy in Casa Amor... and we wouldn’t recommend it.
The PE teacher thought the statement “Job done” was the perfect way to win someone over. Spoiler: it didn’t turn out that way.
8. Lillie gets her moment
The nation’s jaws collectively dropped when Lillie entered the main villa to deliver some home truths about what Liam had been up to in Casa Amor.
Never before has an Islander made such an impact in such a short space of time. A Love Island legend.
9. The record-breaking amount of times Jake called Liberty his GIRLfriend
Some would say that Jake had an obsession with having a girlfriend after the amount of times he’s mentioned the G-word.
After a rocky few weeks of their relationship, it seemed as though Jake’s preferred method of reassurance was repeatedly stating Liberty was his “GIRLfriend”.
Sadly, it wasn’t to be for the couple, who ended up leaving the villa after splitting days before the final.
10. This culinary monstrosity
You know what they say, food is the way to the heart. However, we’re not sure that Aaron’s choice of a Halloween DIY-looking carrots in hummus is quite what is meant by that.
The carrots in question were unpeeled and wedged vertically into a bowl of the dip, leaving them looking like inedible witches fingers.
We haven’t seen a Love Island dish look so unappealing since Tommy served up that ketchup and mayo sandwich for Maura.
11. Speaking of culinary fails...
Rachel made us question our French GCSE after she described Coq au Vin as ‘duck with wine’ to Brad.
The mistake didn’t seem to go unnoticed with viewers, as social media flooded with the correct description for the dish, which is actually chicken braised in wine.
We have to give Rachel a A+ for confidence though.
12. Shannon’s brutal dumping
This year’s contestants were prepped for the summer of a lifetime, but for OG Islander Shannon this was not the case – in fact she was packing her case after just one day in the villa.
After the mandatory two-week quarantine before entering the villa, we can only imagine how it felt being dumped after day one.
13. Georgia. That’s it.
After Hugo was stuck on ‘Friend Island’ for the majority of his time in the villa, viewers were glad to finally see the arrival of Georgia, who had her sights firmly set on Hugo and Hugo only.
Despite being the third girl to make Hugo’s rejection list, Georgia’s short stint in the villa consisted of elocution lessons with Lucinda, bringing the sequins and the inspirational message “Never meet your heroes” – and to be honest, we’re not mad about it.
14. Millie’s comedy timing
You can always count on Millie to keep it 100% real, and let’s be honest her comedic inputs have been up there with the best of them during her time in the villa – case in point, this moment from Unseen Bits.
Is it a bug? No, Millie simply humbled her Chloe by calling her a mug for taking Toby back after their on-and-off romance. We have to say the timing was 10/10.
15. Hair horror
The Undercover Lover challenge wasn’t only very messy but it also left the girls in need of a trip to the hairdressers, as the vibrant slime and accidentally dyed their hair all the colours of the rainbow.
16. Chloe’s Beach Hut entries
Chloe has brought many iconic one-liners to the table this series, often from her Beach Hut entries.
She has offered hilarious commentary on the day-to-day twists and turns in the villa, and who could forget her “very muggy” speech that came after Toby’s head started to turn?
While she proved to be a slightly Marmite character at the beginning of the series, many of us can now agree that Chloe has carried the humour of the show and we love to see it.
Love Island continues on Sunday and Monday at 9pm on ITV2.