Love Island fans convinced they know the real reason Lola Deluca snubbed Joey Essex in recoupling

LOVE Island fans are certain they know why newbie Lola Deluca chose to steal Reuben Collins in the villa instead of Joey Essex.

Bombshell Lola had enjoyed several flirty conversations with Joey after her big entrance onto the ITV2 show – and even described him as “my type to a tee”.

ITV

Love Island bombshell Lola Deluca was tasked with ‘stealing’ a boy[/caption]

Rex

She didn’t pick Joey Essex – despite openly flirting with him[/caption]

Joey also did little to shut her down and instead told Lola he ‘wasn’t closed off’ with his love interest Jessy Potts.

The former Towie star was even seen telling the lads the same thing.

As the latest female bombshell to enter the villa, Lola was told to ‘steal’ a boy during tense scenes in Wednesday night’s episode.

Fellow bombshell Harry Baker was seen pinching Grace Jackson from Reuben before it was Lola’s turn to choose.

But after watching a tearful Jessy whisper to Joey that Lola was going to pick him, assuming she would then be dumped from the island, the episode ended on a cliffhanger.

Viewers eagerly tuned in on Thursday night to see what Lola had decided. In a shock move, she snubbed Joey and picked Reuben.

Fans are now convinced they know exactly why Lola made a sudden U-turn, considering she had only been making a play for Joey.

One wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Wait why Reuben? Why is she playing it safe.”

Someone else insisted: “Nah Lola really wants Joey. She was scared of the backlash.”

Another echoed: “She only did that so she would have no beef with the girls, let’s be real here.”

A fourth wrote: “That girl was too scared to pick Joey.”

And a fifth said: “She was going to pick Joey, we all know that, but Jessy had to cry.”

Fans weren’t the only ones with this theory, either.

In a game of Couples Goals, Josh Oyinsan told all the islanders the next day: “I think she if [Lola] had truly followed her heart she would have picked Joey but she didn’t want to upset people.”

As a result of her decision, Lola had to sleep next to Reuben that night in the villa.

While getting ready for bed with the girls, they told her they thought she would have picked Joey.

“I feel like everyone thought I was going to do that, to be fair,” Lola admitted.

The following day, Lola pulled Joey to one side and criticised him for leading her on.

Joey insisted he wasn’t interested and was happy with Jessy, so Lola reminded him of what he’d said to her.

Lola told Joey he had said he was “open” to getting to know her.

“It should’ve been made clearer that it was a friendly thing,” she warned.

• Love Island continues tomorrow, 9pm, ITV2/ ITVX