Love Island spoilers follow.
Love Island has unveiled its first couples of the 2024 series, with the launch show throwing up many surprises.
The ITV reality show returned tonight (June 3) with its 11th series, with 12 new singletons hoping for a shot at love in the villa.
It didn’t take long for host Maya Jama to tell the group of their first challenge, with the Islanders being split into Girls and Boys, where they then had to rank who was the closest to relationship material, based on first impressions.
Related: ITV responds as Love Island contestant accused of having 'secret' boyfriend
After the rankings took place, the host threw a spanner in the works as she revealed that the first couples would be determined by their rankings from the exercise, a change from previous years.
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This left the initial couplings as:
Mimii & Munveer
Nicole & Sean
Jess & Ronnie
Patsy & Ayo
Samantha & Sam
Harriett & Ciaran
Later that evening, Maya returned to gather the Islanders around the firepit to assess their feelings on the matchups, though the mood changed as she warned to "expect the unexpected".
Related: Olivia Attwood responds to new Love Island cast announcement
Though we've come to expect many shocks, nobody could have predicted that the first bombshell of the series would be a former star of The Only Way Is Essex, with Joey Essex shocking viewers as he walked in. But which of the couples would he pose a threat to first?...
The twist regarding the couplings drew some chatter on social media, with one fan writing on X/Twitter: "This matching strategy was really a surprise. Which couple looks perfect?"
Another added: "The islanders are all looking so interesting, looks like it’s going to be eight weeks of fun and pure entertainment," with one fan quipping: "Messy rankings, couplings twist, Joey ESSEX?!!!2£&&@7 WE ARE SO BACK #LoveIsland #weonsmoke."
Love Island airs on ITV2 and streams on ITVX.
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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.
