The new season of Love Island premiered on Monday night, introducing viewers to this year’s cast of young hopefuls looking for love. However, fans were left stunned by the contestants’ real ages, claiming that both the men and women look older than their stated ages.
Taking to social media, fans joked: “Everyone’s 40 years old saying they’re 24 looking for love.”
Ciaran Davies, a surveyor from Pencoed in South Wales, caused the most surprise when he revealed he is just 21 years old. Viewers couldn’t believe it, flooding Twitter with their disbelief. Comments included: “21 and settle down? pls get this baby off my screen. 42 at 18?!”; “21?????”; “21!?!?! This guy looks 32”; “That man is not 21?!”; “oh no not another baby from Wales”; “Ciaran a baby so he’s not my man but he’s the cutest one”; “21?!? nah i need to see his birth certificate”; “Sorry did he say 21??????? As in born in 2003??? so he’s not 30????”
Fans also remembered that previous Love Island winner Liam Reardon was 21 when he appeared on the show in 2021, with one pointing out: “Guys what is in the water in Wales? Even Liam was looking mad old at 21.. what is it???”
On the other hand, viewers thought Ronnie Vint looked older than his claimed age of 27. Accusations flew that he was in his 30s or even 40s, with comments like: “ronnie looks 40 years old”; “What’s Ronnie doing there? He’s in his 40s surely?”; “27 yea?”; “Ronnie looks 30 yikes”; “I reckon Ronnie is late 30’s at best, early 40’s at worst.”
The ages of the female contestants also sparked debate, with fans suggesting they looked older than they claimed. Comments included: “These girls look nothing like 24 They look mid 30s”; “What is it that’s making these girls look so much older in the face? Is it the Botox orr?”; “Do these girls know they look about 10+ years older than they actually are???? all the work they had done just … no.”
Patsy Field, who revealed she is 29 years old, joked she “wouldn’t be the pensioner of the group.” Fans couldn’t believe her age, writing: “She’s 29?? She’s looks younger than the 24-year-old”; “Love all the kids on here thinking 29 is old”; “Everyone thinking 29 is old lol wait til you’re 48”; “Finally over 25”; “Go 1994!”; “Patsy is the oldest girl yet looks younger than all them lookalikes.”
Nicole Samuels also drew comments about her age, with fans writing: “24! No way.” They joked: “She identifies as a 24-year-old!! That must be it!! She looks older than me!! & I’m 40!!!!”; “She’s 24?? Are we just blatantly lying on applications now???”
The much-anticipated new series kicked off with 10 new singletons moving into the famous villa in Mallorca, but technical difficulties with ITV’s online streaming service ITVX left many fans frustrated. Unable to log in, viewers missed the show’s opening moments, prompting angry tweets: “ITVX now is not the time to be playing up”; “So everyone’s ITVX is doing tomfoolery… ITV have shame actually the worst streaming service available”; “Anyone else’s ITVX down? I need to watch Love Island ffs”; “How can my ITVX just crash nah”; “ITVX get all your affairs in order NOW… there should be no lagging with one thousand ads”; “Now why is ITVX down when Love Island started four minutes ago.”