Love Island hopeful Joey Essex set hearts aflutter upon his entrance into the villa.
Although he has taken his time mingling with the ladies, it seems the 33-year-old has set his sights on one person in particular: Samantha Kenny. According to body language expert Darren Stanton, the former TOWIE star is keen on impressing the Liverpool-born makeup artist and winning her over with his Essex charm.
Many viewers speculated that there might be a spark between Joey and Harriett Blackmore following their time in the Hideaway. However, Darren insists there is nothing between them, as Joey exhibited signs of “discomfort” and “distance.” Joey, the first celebrity to join Love Island, is making his mark. Speaking to Spin Genie, Darren noted that Samantha and Joey are already forming a strong foundation of trust through mirroring gestures, engaging in eye contact, and displaying flirtatious behaviour.
“Joey has been trying to impress Samantha and win her over straight away. When speaking with Samantha, Joey stretched his arms out, which tells us he is feeling very confident right now. He wears his heart on his sleeve and has a lot of charm. Samantha reciprocated every gesture Joey displayed, suggesting they were on the same level emotionally with each other. It means they are developing a strong level of trust. We saw them both displaying flirtatious signals, with Samantha playing with her hair and smiling a lot. We also saw them gazing into each other’s eyes, which means they already feel very comfortable in each other’s company. They’re deeply invested in each other and want to see what could potentially happen,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Darren was quick to dispel any confusion over Joey’s feelings towards Harriett. “Joey isn’t into Harriett. They didn’t mirror each other’s body language during their encounter. Joey had his arms folded throughout their conversation, which suggests he wanted to distance himself. He was seen moving his legs while sitting down and he couldn’t feel at ease in her company, which is a clear sign of discomfort. Harriett is more into Joey than he is into her. Their eye contact wasn’t consistent and there weren’t many signs of building trust or a growing interest in one another,” he continued.
However, last night’s episode introduced a new twist with the arrival of the show’s latest bombshell, Uma Jammeh, which has complicated things between Joey and Samantha. Uma made a dramatic entrance into the villa, tasked with kissing all the blindfolded men. What particularly upset Samantha was Joey’s revelation that Uma whispered in his ear that she would see him later.
Samantha did not take this well at all. Speaking to the other lads on the show, Joey admitted, “The whole time I’ve been here, I’ve been very transparent. I’m keeping my options open and talking to everyone. Obviously, I’m coupled up with Samantha, but this always happens. I’m really trying my best here to not dive in deep and it’s still happening.”