If you are still on the fence about who the real star of this year's Love Island is; make yourself a coffee, take a seat and be ready to be swayed by the northern charm of chaotic Islander, Joshua Ritchie.
The All Stars villa was in a state of turmoil Wednesday night (14 February) as the duos dealt with the aftermath of the 'Couple of Sorts' game that caused major dramz amongst the Islanders.
Sure, Joshua and Sophie Piper had an absolute field day and managed to find a moment of laughter in pretty much every element of the challenge, but the same could not be said for the other Islanders, especially the two Georgias; Harrison and Steel.
Even though it was a game that was voted for by the viewers rather than their fellow Islanders, Josh found himself at the forefront of the rows and spent half the episode explaining himself and, honestly? We respect him for it, even if we do think he was severely wronged. WRONGED WE TELL YOU.
Allow us to explain.
Firstly, as someone over on Twitter/X/whatever the social media app is now called, so eloquently put it, "Georgia and Anton are just realising that Josh was on the pre influencer season of Love Island, he doesn’t care #LoveIsland."
In fact, the Bolton boy must have hollered that exact phrase at least ten times throughout the Valentine's Day episode, after Georgia H and Anton Danyluk decided to gather everyone around the fire pit to quiz them on what the other All Stars thought about THEIR relationship.
That in itself is bizarre AF because in reality why does it matter if their fellow Islanders are doubting Anton and Georgia's romance? They need to focus on winning over the Love Island fans - not their villa mates. It's giving Katniss and Peeta trying to convince President Snow they're in love during The Hunger Games.
Anyway, we digress. Anton and Georgia couldn't understand why they were voted 'most boring' and 'least likely to work on the outside', so Josh decided to do what any brutally honest friend would do and told Georgia it's because no one is convinced of the romance. Like, not even a little bit.
Cue Georgia H crying and Anton demanding a confrontation between all the Islanders which resulted in Josh being the ONLY person to admit they weren't sure Georgia really did like Anton.
Excuse us, but were we the only ones watching Josh and Sophie chat with Callum Jones and Jess Gale about how Georgia H wished she liked Anton but, just, didn't?
How about when Casey O'Gorman claimed you couldn't come back from someone giving you 'the ick'?
We all need a friend like Josh in our lives who makes us realise that being delulu is not always the solulu.
Perhaps he does need to work on his bedside manner but what did you expect from the OG season onealumni? Diplomacy? Tactfulness? Not in this world, babes.
Besides being the most upfront member of the villa, Josh never fails to make light of any situation and was on a roll when it came to the 'Couple of Sorts' game. Josh and his fellow Northern lad, Callum, had us in hysterics throughout the challenge, especially when Josh was over the moon that him and Soph were voted third 'hottest couple'. You'd think they'd just been declared winners of the entire show and were sauntering off with the £50k with his top tier reaction as he declared, "I knew I was f***ing fit, man."
Not only that but Josh and Sophie seemed to be the only duo on the same wavelength, hence the reason the couple knew they would NEVER be voted 'the most intelligent couple' and genuinely found the concept hilarious AF.
Finally, opening up to Callum and Toby Aromolaran and admitting that it doesn't matter "if he's cringe once, it doesn't really matter as long as it makes them [the girl's] happy" is major growth from the bombshell.
We just love it when a character arc plays out before our very eyes, especially when it doesn't involve them sacrificing who they are; a blunt Bolton who always brings the jokes.
Dare we say it? The personal development of Joshua Ritchie might just be our favourite Love Island story to date.