Love Island star Ovie Soko has explained why he will “never” go on the show again.
As the reality show hosted by Maya Jama gets ready to return for its second All Star season in January 2025, Soko has been among the favourites rumoured to appear.
Last year’s series saw season six’s Molly Smith and season nine’s Tom Clare return to the villa and be crowned winners. A dramatic twist saw Molly and her ex-partner Callum Jones face each other in the villa, as they both eventually settled their differences and moved on with new people.
Soko was apparently tired of the speculation as he shared a post on his social media on Thursday (22 November), responding to the rumours. The tweet has since racked up over five million views in less than 24 hours.
“I’m never going on Love Island All Stars,” he wrote on X/Twitter. “Love the show but I’m 33 guys. I am your uncle now.”
The former basketball player first appeared as a bombshell on the show’s fifth series in 2019 – largely considered one of its most legendary.
Despite his late entrance, he finished in third place with his partner India Reynolds. Soko still remains popular, regularly trending whenever new seasons air, with fans begging for his return. His suave demeanour and distinctive fashion sense led to a loyal following.
But his feeling that he is too old to appear on the programme may be valid, after Towie star Joey Essex became the oldest contestant to ever appear on Love Island earlier this year, aged 33.
Ahead of Essex’s appearance he justified his decision to go on as its first ever celebrity contestant saying, “It’s difficult for me to meet girls as they judge me based on a persona so I think this experience will allow people to see the real me.”
As some decried the star calling himself “Uncle”, Soko insisted: “No, I’m dead serious, like I’m fully an uncle, not jokey jokey, I like to sleep on time, my body aches on certain mornings, that type sh*t”.
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However, some felt pity for Soko having to explain himself as they wrote, “The fact that this man has come out to tell fans he is so over the show says a lot about how parasocial fans are, it’s crazy how they obsess over certain personalities who have clearly moved ahead to better things in life”.
Others were disappointed as they lamented, “But you were the greatest character on it”.
