Love Island has once again brought back everyone's favourite twist – Casa Amor.
As always, the couples have been split into a boys and girls' villa and some new bombshells have been sent in to test their connections. Eventually, the existing contestants must decide whether to couple up with a newbie or to remain loyal to their existing pair.
We've already had some pretty juicy moments on the current ITV series including Kai having a case of mistaken identity and some potential kissing from Will.
But what actually happens at Casa Amor, and what aren't they showing us on TV? We find out…
Contestants don't always want to go into Casa Amor
Savanna Darnell had her heart set on being an OG islander, but found out that wouldn't be the case when she was shown the launch show while quarantining in Spain ahead of her debut. "Three days later a producer came to the hotel to tell me I was going home because the storylines wouldn’t work with my entrance. My heart dropped," she told OK!
"I was really stressed, crying every single day and just questioning what I’d done to my life," she adds.
Billy Brown felt the same saying: "I was a bit gutted that I wasn’t in the original line-up, but it was still a great opportunity so I knew I’d be stupid to turn it down."
The bombshells meet each other at the last minute
“The first time I met the other Casa Amor girls was in the Uber from my villa to the holding area. I shared the car ride with Lillie and we spent the whole journey laughing and screaming,” 2021 Casa Amor girl Amy Day told us.
“As soon as we got dropped off outside the villa, we saw the other girls and that’s when we all got talking. We probably had an hour to get to know each other before we made our big entrance.”
The entrance is hard work
“Entering the villa was the craziest day – it was also the hottest day of the year, too,” Amy explains. “The producers had to film us walking into the villa and we must’ve filmed that walk about 10 or 15 times before we got it right.
“As it was so hot, we were all sweating and the producers had to get us towels to pat us down. We joked about how we were going to enter looking like we’d just been swimming.”
Feeling starstruck
Savanna, who appeared on the 2018 series, said that the newbies often feel starstruck around the contestants as they've been watching them at home for weeks like the rest of us!
"Once I was in the villa the nerves really started to kick in. I’d watched these boys on TV for the past month, and so I felt starstruck. They were all best friends with the camera operators and producers, and spoke like it was their villa which was intimidating. I’m often loud and energetic, but I was literally mute as my confidence felt knocked," she explained.
Billy recalls it being awkward in 2022 too: "For the first day in Casa Amor, the atmosphere was so on edge and the boys and girls were hardly talking. It felt so weird and as if we’d intruded on the girls’ space and had suddenly entered their house without being invited."
Non-stop grafting
Casa Amor is only a short amount of time and the new islanders' fate is completely in the hands of the existing ones, which makes it "stressful".
"It may have only lasted for a few days but Casa Amor was so much more stressful than I thought it would be. You hardly have any time to actually think about how you’re feeling," explains Billy
"The hard thing is that the girls already have a place in the main villa so they can play it cool because they’re safe and they already have a couple – it’s the bombshells who are fighting for their place and that’s the pressure."
Tannoy shaming
When it comes to spending time in the villa, there’s a lot of rules that contestants must follow and the same also applies for Casa Amor.
“There was one night when we were fully glammed up and the boys decided to jump in the pool, so Lillie, Kaila and I joined them. Before it happened, I was in the bedroom and I went outside and heard my name being called,” Amy says.
“I thought it was them cheering me on, but it was actually a voice on the tannoy telling me not to do it. We got told off because we had lots of beach hut filming to do afterwards and had to dry off and get ready all over again.”
Pre-coupling
Prior to the recoupling event at the main villa, those in Casa Amor have their own mini recoupling beforehand in order to give the contestants time to pack and get ready.
“It was a real shock because the whole time you don’t know where any of the boys’ heads are at and nothing is guaranteed,” Amy explains.
Saying goodbye is hard
Savanna recalls the end of her journey at Casa Amor – "Out of the six girls, only two of us weren’t chosen. It was the most embarrassing moment in my whole entire life. I had to watch as they excitedly prepared to move across to the main villa – I just felt sick."
Amy felt bad for those not chosen. “All of us girls travelled to the recoupling in the same car, so it was quite hard because those of us who’d got picked didn’t want to rub it in the other girls’ faces. We only really said our goodbyes when we hugged on TV."
Love Island fans had better prepare for a few goodbyes themselves, as the Casa Amor twist will see at least four stars going home tonight, according to reports.
READ NEXT:
Click here for today's top showbiz news
Inside Peter Andre’s big 50th birthday celebrations with Duabi trip – ‘I was freaking out!’
Eugenie is 'breaking ranks' supporting Harry in 'telling' Super Bowl appearance, expert says
Coronation Street spoilers see a heartbroken Shona leave David as he kisses Maria
For the latest showbiz exclusives, sign up to our daily OK! newsletter
Source: Read Full Article