UK Love Island All Stars: The Art Of The Public Choosing Wrong

Last night was the Love Island All Stars season 3 final, and yet again, the public chose wrong. 

It seems to be a recurring problem in the UK Love Island fandom that the wrong winners (in my opinion) are chosen time and time again. It has nothing to do with the couple themselves being bad, but is related to a lack of what they bring to the show. 

If you didn't watch last night, Ciaran Davies from season 11 and Samie Elishi from season 9 won All Stars season 3.

Fans and commentators were shocked and disappointed by the win.

But why? Let's dive into it.

The Lack Of Entertainment Factor

A big component of Love Island contestants is the entertainment factor they bring. While we may love individuals for their wild antics or opinionated moments, we also love an interesting and entertaining couple. 

This point, when applied to the winners, is the main problem people online and I have with these kinds of reality show winners. The love story journey is a big part of getting the public to root for your couple, but it's not the entire picture.

On All Stars, it seems the last two winners lack the fun factor, at least according to the audience. One part of the couple is sometimes entertaining, but rarely is. If we take last year's winners, Gabby Allen and Casey O'Gorman, for example, only one person gave us iconic moments. Casey was chaotic on his season, and on both seasons of All Stars he appeared on. While his luck with the ladies was very low, his behaviour kept us laughing and irritated throughout the six weeks of All Stars. 

However, as a couple, Casey and Gabby were mismatched and broke up three months after their win. Longevity doesn't always mean winner material, but it sure is a factor.

Back to this year's winners. Samie and Ciaran stuck with each other throughout their journey, with Ciaran only briefly getting to know bombshell Lucinda Strattford. Certain factions of the public (namely the Fiat 500 crowd) seem to love that. But really, a lack of drama and conflicts does not make for an entertaining story.

Sure, it's romantic that the two were all for each other, but it also shows a lack of progression and adversity in the couple. I'm not saying they needed to explore lots of connections, but that's what Love Island is about, hence the islanders always banging on about their connections with X and Y. All of the other finalists this year had explored other connections in the villa and given other people a chance, before deciding on their person. 

In reality, that is what dating is. Love Island is a dating show, and if you go into the show guns blazing for one person, it's not entertaining, and it's not realistic. 

The bottom line is, if there is no narrative, from the beginning, the middle, where the conflict and build-up happen, to the end, when they settle into the couple, it's not interesting.

Winners Don't Last 

A pattern on Love Island UK seems to be that the show's winners don't last, at least in later seasons. The only time the public seemed to get it right with All Stars was on season 1, when Molly Smith and Tom Clare won. The two are now engaged and due to marry sometime this year. 

But, with last season's winners and even the runners-up, longevity wasn't on the cards. Often in these later seasons of Love Island, the winners don't last and break up within a few months, giving the public a vague excuse for why.

Now, we are not entitled to know the ins and outs of why a reality show couple broke up. However, if you follow a love story for weeks and become attached to a couple, you develop a parasocial relationship with them. Therefore, you and other Love Island fans may closely follow their journey when they leave, so you will be disappointed if they break up soon after winning the show and a hefty cash prize.

Unfortunately, it seems destined that those who win the show don't last in their couple, so we as the audience expect the winners to break up within a few months. Certainly, this is the case for the last few seasons, if we look at Mimi and Josh, Gabby and Casey, Jess and Sammy. 

Obviously, this is not the case for all winners, as the 2025 winners, Toni and Cach, are still thriving. 

As for the All Stars season 3 winners, the public is already doubting their relationship, which is not a good sign for the supposed winner's curse. 

Journey Bias Works 

Another reason the public has and does pick the wrong winners is because of journey bias. This is common in recent Love Island history, as couples who meet early in the show, perhaps as OGs, seem to draw in viewers, and their relationship is viewed as authentic because they stay together throughout. This is certainly the case with Samie and Ciaran, and those who voted for them pushed this narrative until the end. Although Samie did not come in on the first day, like many who win.

However, if you look at the other finalists, each couple went on a different journey. The thing I find odd is how a couple like Whitney Adebayo and Yamen Sanders came in fifth, even though they had a charming journey. 

Yamen did stay with Whitney throughout, but Whitney was an OG who had explored connections with Jack and Konnor before Yamen came in around the halfway point in the show. They did not have much drama, and yet, they came in fifth, which is astounding to me. 

The journey bias works. The British public either loves a messy couple who have a rollercoaster story who end up together, or a fairytale-like romance that starts and ends without bumps in the road. There is no in between.

The Role Of Racism In The Voting Proccess 

A controversial take, but the fact is, a portion of the British public is racist against islanders and couples of colour, which significantly alters the voting proccess, and decides who wins. 

A majority of Love Island UK winners have been white, English couples, something both viewers and online fans have increasingly noticed. What’s particularly interesting, however, is the disconnect between social media sentiment and actual voting outcomes: scrolling through the Love Island and All Stars hashtags on X often reveals opinions that rarely align with the couples who ultimately win or the contestants who are eliminated.

For example, this year, a majority of online posts seemed to support Scott Van der Sluis and Leanne Amaning winning. The two had a compelling if not rocky journey, with Scott entertaining and flirting with the likes of fiery brunette Belle Hassan and getting to know American beauty Sher Suarez. They finished reasonably high in third place, but their placing was still shocking to many users, including me.

On X, support poured in for Leanne as she stood by and watched Scott act messy, but when he eventually came back to her, the viewers were ecstatic. Throughout, Leanne carried herself with class and maturity,  never getting involved with the drama and not taking disrespect lying down, making her a strong contender to win. 

But, part of me cannot help but think a portion of the British public didn't want Leanne to win because she is in an interracial couple with Scott, who is a white Welsh man. You may say this is a reach, but we've seen how black women and women of colour are treated on this show. Shannon Singh and Sophie Lee were voted out quickly in their seasons of Love Island, and time and time again, black women have been chosen last by the men in the show.

Whitney's treatment this season reflects this ideal. Many Facebook comments harshly criticised Whitney for standing up for herself and being outspoken, but when Lucinda does it, they brand her as real. Additionally, the Lucinda was bullied narrative proves that when white women on the show display similar behaviour, they are praised or branded as a truth teller. 

This was the case for Belle for much of her journey. She was praised for calling out Lucinda's wind-up behaviour, but when Whitney defended herself and spoke her mind, she was branded rude and arrogant by users on Facebook.

I'm not naive to the potential age differences reflecting the opinions on X and Facebook, with some 2025 data suggesting that the most active users on X are Gen Z and millennials. In contrast, Facebook's users are a lot more mixed in age. Regardless, contestants of colour and their couples seem to be treated much more harshly than those in white couples, showcasing potential racial biases and less grace for couples that contain non-white individuals. 

So...Did The Public Choose Wrong?

In my opinion, yes, the public chose wrong. We've discussed the reasons why I think this, but I want to know, who do you think should've won? Do you agree with the winners, or do you have a different opinion?