When the Love Island: All Stars line-up FINALLY dropped on Monday 8 January (it's fine, we'd only been waiting nine years for this - no big deal) we went from excited to feral in a matter of seconds, to be honest. Producers done good.
Most of the Islanders in the line-up had been rumoured in the weeks leading up to the announcement, but we have to say, one name we didn't expect to be on there – in addition to a questionably photoshopped press shot (that goes for all of them btw) – was Love Island 2021, erm, "kind of the villain of the show", Jake Cornish.
A little history lesson in case you need it – Jake and Liberty Poole were coupled together on their very first day in the villa and remained with each other for the duration of the show, however, their bumpy Love Island journey ended VERY abruptly when they sensationally called it quits and walked out of the villa just days before the final. In emotional scenes, the nation watched on as Liberty chose “self love” and ended things with her now ex-boyfriend and admitted that she didn’t feel they were right for each other.
It's safe to say when Jake returned to the outside world he wasn't massively happy with the edit he'd gotten, nor how he'd been perceived by a portion of the public, telling heat he'd been called been accused of "gaslighting" and being a "narcissist" online.
As such, in our minds, we assumed Jake was done with Love Island – not to mention the fact he was starring in British gangster movies and DJing all over the shop – but apparently not.
To be honest, we asked Jake why he wanted to return to Love Island three years later and he pretty much said he wants a bit of sun in January, he's being paid to be there and he wants to see what everyone's been up to. We literally asked him if he was looking for love and he said, "We'll have to wait and see". To be fair, he didn't say no, so that's something.
He also elaborated on how his feelings towards the show have shifted since exiting the show in 2021. He told us, "Don’t get me wrong people have enjoyed what they’ve seen of me and people have been like, ‘You were quality on there, you were a good laugh’, but I think [I want viewers] to see more of that. Not just to see this lad who was kind of the villain of the show."
Do we sniff a villain redemption story on the cards?
"When I came out last time, it was a case of, ‘Mate, they did you dirty on there’, and now I look at it and go, ‘If they want to do me dirty, that’s absolutely fine.’ It is what it is. There’s not a lot I can do about it. It’s out of my hands, I’m out of control of it," Jake said.
Oh, okay, maybe not. We love a bit of growth, though, so here's hoping we see a bit of that from Jake this time around.
Drama-wise, though, we can't even imagine the scenes that are going to unfold when Jake, Liberty and Liberty's bestie Kaz Kamwi all realise they're in the villa together.
Love Island starts at 9pm Monday 15th January on ITV1, ITV2, ITVX & STV