IT’S only been one episode, but tensions are already simmering in the Love Island villa.
The lads have barely had time to reel out their cringe-worthy chat-up lines and there’s a hunky bombshell on the scene gunning to steal their girls.
Judi James says a feud is already brewing between the boys on Love Island
The arrival of bombshell Tom could stir up trouble
The arrival of a new bloke – footballer Tom – has sparked an early power battle among the guys, according to Judi James.
The body language expert says last night’s opening show in South Africa – which introduced new host Maya Jama – saw early feuds brewing between the boys.
“Apart from the love signals there were some body language cues to suggest power battles and resentments growing early on,” she tells The Celeb Report.
“Kai and Shaq both performed an alpha splay when they sat with the other guys. At one point they sat on either end of the group, facing each other in what looked like a power stand-off and traded some subtle banter.
“Tom’s arrival could make them join forces – but if not we could see some leadership battles between these two guys.
“Tom looks like the perfect disruptive bombshell.
“Standing at the fire-pit being introduced, you could see his eyes working round the group, apparently picking off each girl with a look of forensic decision-making that must have felt threatening to the other guys.
“This could lead to trouble if he doesn’t ingratiate with that boy group quite quickly.”
Judi says Kai and Shaq both performed an ‘alpha splay’ when they sat with the other guys
This year Love Island bosses switched up the format in the opening episode, with the boys entering the villa first and the girls doing the picking.
There was a eyebrow-raising moment when ring girl Olivia entered, and chose to steal Kai from Anna-May.
It came back to bite her though, as Kai then stepped forward for Tanyel when she entered the villa, and she chose to couple up with him.
Olivia was then forced to pair with farmer Will, but soon admitted she fancied Haris, who had ended up with Anna-May.
Judi says: “Olivia look set to be one of the stand-out stars of this season.
“Not only did she steal Anna-May’s guy in the coupling, prompting a walk-past that involved a frosty ignore, she then made up with Anna-May on the bench in a hug ritual of female bonding – before making moves on Haris.
“Olivia uses a lot of cut-off gestures, bringing her hand up to her face in a partial mask, and this makes her look exceedingly naughty and therefore fun viewing.
“Olivia’s cold, hard, up and down stare of negative evaluation at Kai when he stepped forward for Tanyel, leaving her stranded behind him, was a stand-out body language moment.
“There was no loser’s smile from Olivia – instead she performed a small elbow-armpit-pump gesture, as though prepping for a fight, if necessary.”
Judi reckons Olivia could be a standout star of this series
The ring girl flirted with Haris
Judi says Olivia’s flirt signals towards Haris were “jaw-dropping”.
She observes how the actress “worked up some role-play” to allow her to use intense eye-contact on Haris, before performing a “flirt-laugh”.
“Olivia fell all over him and clutched his arm, using the excuse of being helpless with laughter,” Judi says.
She adds: “How long before Anna-May and Olivia notice how Haris constantly references his mum, though?
“His total focus on what his mum will think of any girlfriend could be a deal-breaker for both of them.”
Judi says only one couple showed early signs of being a genuinely good match – Lana and Ron.
“Ron really did look gutted when bombshell Tom walked in,” she observes.
“Their mutual love of Harry Potter might not have guaranteed a winning romance, but so far their body language together does look almost convincing.
“Their eye contact is building at the right rate but more impressively their subliminal signals, like subconscious mirroring and some synchronicity of pace and movement, was impressive – and hard to act if someone is just pretending.”
Haris had coupled up with Anna-May
Olivia performed flirting rituals with Haris
Shak and Tanya insisted they have a lot of common – namely a shared love of “chilling” – and talked about sexual chemistry, but Judi isn’t convinced.
She says there were some “serious flirt signals” from them both, but Shaq’s body language suggested he’s “less of a flirt than he likes to make out”.
Judi explains: “His boyish giggle after each sentence is one giveaway to a less confident side, as well as the way he crotch-covered with his hands the minute Maya strode into the villa.
“He says he wants to protect Tanya, but her frequent pointing and conductor gestures suggest she might be tougher that she looks.
“Her eyebrow-flash signal when Tom arrived might just spell future trouble. Are they trying too hard, too soon? It looks like it.”
Judi reckons Ron and Lana have a genuine connection
