Love Island’s Olivia is the best thing to happen to Kai – he just doesn’t know it yet-Adam Miller-Entertainment – Metro

Could she unwittingly be Kai’s winning ticket to the final? I think so (Picture: Shutterstock / Rex Features)

Olivia Hawkins is by far one of the most unusual Love Island contestants we’ve ever had, to put it mildly.

I, along with many others, had really high hopes for her. She seemed to arrive with the fire of Maura Higgins – and there is quite literally no other Love Islander I love more than Maura.

Sadly, Maura she is not.

‘Can I pull you for a chat?’ seems to have become a daily question from Olivia, be it with Tom Clare (who looked like he had zero interest in her from the beginning) or with her new target Kai Fagan, who – like most people watching at home – has become exhausted by her.

But could she unwittingly be Kai’s winning ticket to the final? I think so.

Despite insisting that she doesn’t like confrontation, Olivia will likely be remembered for being the islander with the most confrontations and not really having any actual excuse to back them up.

It’s been very uncomfortable to watch from the get-go. Even stranger, the other girls in the villa always back her up. What have the rest of us missed?

On Wednesday night’s episode – almost a week after the islanders were reunited following a typically explosive recoupling – the dust still hasn’t settled for Olivia.

To jog your memory, prior to Casa Amor, Olivia and Kai were coupled up, but both found new bombshells during their very brief time apart.

On paper, both parties seemed pretty chuffed with their new matches so in theory, everyone should be able to move on and have a laugh. That was not the case.

Despite smugly returning with Maxwell Samuda on her arm, when Olivia saw Kai looking equally chuffed with himself sat next to Sanam Harrinanan, she saw red, immediately blowing up like a woman scorned.

Only she hadn’t really been scorned. Far from it.

Her connection with Kai was lukewarm at best, not even the strongest in a series lacking in actual connections. Regardless, it’s mind-blowing that she still has such little self-awareness to be angry at Kai for recoupling with someone else while she simultaneously coupled up with someone else too.

Since then, she’s done little to simmer the tension, despite claims she just wants peace.

Poor Maxwell is helplessly watching the girl he’s coupled up with seemingly spending more time shouting at her ‘ex’ (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)

Their latest argument was something else.

Earlier in the week, after various rows between Kai and Olivia debating who was the ‘fakest’, in a challenge where he was asked who he thought was the fakest, he randomly chose Claudia Fogerty, which – granted – was a curveball.

He had good reason though.

When Olivia asked why he hadn’t picked her – like a child who’d been left out of some game – Kai explained he just didn’t want another argument with her. How wrong he was.

Instead, Olivia said his peace-keeping tactic just proved he was the fakest and subsequently, another completely unnecessary drama ensued.

Bearing in mind, this is happening constantly and poor Maxwell is helplessly watching the girl he’s coupled up with seemingly spending more time shouting at her ‘ex’ than spending any meaningful time with him.

Even on their first official date, from what we were shown, she mainly spent it talking unfavourably about Kai. At this point, you’re more likely to find a winning lottery ticket than anyone outside of the villa who is in Olivia’s corner.

Kai has shown a grace and dignity not often seen on Love Island (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)

However, while Kai might feel as though he’s in some hellish Groundhog day nightmare, I believe Oliva could well be the best thing to happen to him.

Up until Casa Amor, I was pretty indifferent to Kai. He was a character, sure, but never quite on my radar enough to have a strong opinion on him either way. He was mainly the guy who did Tanyel Revan dirty and, of anyone in this current line-up, she was the only one I would walk over hot coal for.

Since Casa Amor, however, that’s all changed. He’s responded to Olivia’s attempts for chaos with nothing but dignity, which is clearly riling her up even more.

It’s quite clear Olivia hardly enters his thoughts until she ‘pulls him for a chat’ and he’s come across as charming, respectful and now – I’m going to go there – my potential winner.

Like every series, Casa Amor completely flips everything we know, the dynamics shift to an unrecognisable degree.

One of my favourite Love Islanders in a long time, Will Young, cheated on Jessie Wynter the moment she was out of sight. Meanwhile, Tanya Manhenga and Shaq Muhammad started off strong but have descended into an irredeemable mess and – judging by the scenes in Movie Night – they won’t be getting any better.

In turn, Kai and his loved-up pairing with Sanam could have emerged as the safest bet for glory.

Just look at 2019’s Love Island winner, Amber Gill, who clinched the £50,000 prize, despite only being coupled up with Greg O’Shea for a couple of weeks. A large part of that was essentially how she dealt with Michael Griffiths’ betrayal.

It was a shining example of dusting off the cobwebs and holding her head higher than many of us would if we were put in the same grim situation.

Similarly, Kai has proven himself to be made of stronger stuff than a lot of us could imagine, brushing off Olivia’s attempts at confrontations and walking away when so many others would take the bite.

More: TV

He’s shown a grace and dignity not often seen on Love Island – or by many even outside of the show.

I wouldn’t have imagined saying this just a week ago, but I’m throwing it out there now – Kai and Sanam for the win.

Finally, we have what looks like a worthy winning couple.

Love Island continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views in the comments below.

MORE : Love Island star Shaq Muhammad calls out ‘shade’ from Olivia Hawkins as explosive Movie Night continues

MORE : Love Island fans accuse Olivia Hawkins of ripping off Molly-Mae Hague phrase: ‘It doesn’t hit the same’

MORE : Love Island’s Will Young and Jessie Wynter compared to Ross and Rachel from Friends as ‘cheating’ drama continues

Entertainment – MetroRead More