What we can learn about relationships from ‘Love Island’

It’s that time of year when the majority of the UK population have been glued to their TV screens every night from 9-10pm for the last month as watch the daily dramas unfold on the reality show that is Love Island, and I’m unashamed to say, I am one of those people! For those of you that aren’t aware of what the show is, a group of (plastic looking) guys and girls spend the summer in a villa in Spain, with the aim of coupling up with someone in order to win £50,000 at the end. Every few days new guys and girls join the house and shake up the couples that have been formed.

Whilst many can brand it ‘trash TV’ and ‘a more exotic version of Big Brother,’ having been engrossed in the series for over a week, I feel there are key things we can take away from the show about modern day relationships:

 

• 99% of people that claim to be players and don’t get attached are lying – pretty much every person introduction claimed they ‘never get attached’ and ‘knowing exactly how to play people’. I’d say with the exception of 1 or 2 people on the show, everyone else has shown the complete opposite. Moral of the story= everyone has emotions. Everyone gets attached.
• Women will always gravitate towards the men that are obnoxious and away from the ‘nice guys’ – as an objective third party being a fly on the wall to the unfolding romances, it’s patently obvious that on first impressions, the nice guys (except Marcel) are quickly dismissed in favour of the arrogant men that peacock around the villa.
• Despite initially catching their attention, men tend to prefer women to look natural instead of fake (both in terms of plastic surgery and makeup/hair extensions) – this both surprised and reassured me (mainly because I don’t look like a fake plastic woman) that men still do appreciate natural beauty, even if they are momentarily charmed by the fake look.
• Men can easily recognise which women are ‘wife’ material but will only pursue them when they are at the right time in their life, the rest of the time they will ignore them and chase other women – I think this explains why 99% of young women end up heartbroken, single, or on Tinder. We are chasing the right guys at the wrong time. Men tend to mature much later than we do.
• We complain about people being arrogant but in the same breath feed their ego – and this needs to STOP. Right now.
• We can very easily misjudge signals that someone is/isn’t interested in us – it’s easier to notice when you are watching from afar than in the thick of a situation, but it’s key to try and stay as objective as possible when starting out in a relationship and not get caught up in corny/obvious one liners that will try and seduce us whilst also being aware of any tell tale signs that someone just isn’t interested.
• Playing hard to get still works – in an era where people are offering themselves up on a shiny plate before you’ve even asked them how they are, it’s refreshing to see that people are still willing to work hard to get something they want, and the longer it takes them to get it, the more they want it.
• People will treat you how you let them – regardless of the relationship – a boyfriend/girlfriend, friend, colleague, housemate, people will always test what they can and can’t get away with, if you let someone treat you like shit, they will continue to treat you like shit.
• People can be very fickle – granted on this show they are probably more fickle than people would be in real life given that it’s ultimately a game show and there is money to won, but it still amazes me how a couple can seem to be going along swimmingly and then suddenly, out of nowhere, a small problem is exacerbated and the relationship is over before it even had a chance to begin.
• People are more insecure than you think – especially the ones that look the least insecure. By that I mean, the ones that perhaps look the most glamourous, or appear the most confident, when you spend enough time getting to know them ( or watching them on TV every night) you realise that most people have something that holds them back. I’ve found it strangely reassuring that I’m not the only one that struggles with insecurities at times!

Do any of my lovely readers watching the show?

Giulia x