Given that the lovely Lana Jenkins was pretty much cast in the 'girl next door' role for Love Island she predictably didn't make much of effort to steal the spotlight on her season. That sounds like a read, doesn't it? It's not. What we're saying is, she was generally very palatable and drama free while on winter Love Island 2023 – nor was she a larger than life character in the villa.
As such, Lana didn't quite grab the headlines that the likes of Olivia Hawkins, Zara Lackenby-Brown and Will Young grabbed while on the show (tbf, the show can't be all Olivias, Zaras and Wills – imagine the chaos). There are all sorts of ways to play this game and clearly Lana's way worked out for her as the popular Islander finished in second place alongside boyfriend Ron Hall.
As such, we clearly missed some seriously mind-blowing info during our early Lana Jenkins research, because the Islander recently revealed that she's actually related to a veteran star of the series, and although it makes total sense, it has, at the same time, left us utterly speechless.
In truth, we had absolutely no clue and kind of want to see the DNA results morning television style.
Brace yourselves, because this is some Love Island Multiverse of Madness sh*t...
During an Instagram Q&A with her 583K followers, Lana was asked flat-out whether she was related to Love Island series 2's Rykard Jenkins, who coupled up with Malin Anderson, Olivia Buckland and Rachel Fenton, before walking on day 15 – presumably because they share the same last name of Jenkins.
In a jaw-dropping reply, Lana admitted that she was, in fact, related to Rykard, saying, "Our grandads are brothers, so yes, we are, although we have never met."
WHAT?
Lana's claim was then confirmed when Rykard himself shared Lana's story commenting, "Jenkins Gannng".
Okay, a few questions for Lana...
One, why have you two not met? You live in Luton, and last time we checked, he lives in Kent. Two, did Rykard give you any advice before going on winter Love Island? And three, HOW did heatworld's bloodhounds not figure this out months ago? You don't have to answer that last question, Lana.
When we first met Rykard back in 2016 he was a personal trainer (of course he was). These days, he is an aesthetic practitioner and director of the Rejuvenation Clinic.
Does this mean we're bad at our jobs? No, shoo, inner saboteur. We always slay.