Sam Thompson has given his take on the secret connection between Love Island contestants Olivia Hawkins and Zara Lackenby-Brown.
Chatting to HELLO! in an exclusive interview, the presenter opened up about the tension between the pair, which has aroused the interest of viewers in recent days.
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When asked to share his thoughts on Olivia and Zara's connection outside the villa, Sam, who recently landed a new gig as The Morning After podcast co-host alongside ex-Islander Indiyah Polack, said: "Well, Zara's family were on Aftersun on Sunday night and they said that there's no weird thing going on. Apparently, they had met on a shoot once.
"I think what it is, and Indiyah was saying this actually, which is when you're in that scene, you meet a lot of the same people on shoots and on set."
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He continued: "Like what their families said, they didn't know each other that well but you comment on people you don't really know's photos sometimes. I just think they're actually two really strong personalities. The beauty of this 'feud' is that it's not malicious. It's never gone too far. It's always been like, 'Let's agree to disagree.' It's quite a mature way of handling it. They clearly have differences but the way they deal with is actually quite good.
© Photo: ITVSam hosts The Morning After podcast with Indiyah Polack
"I personally think they will come together later down the line," he said, jokingly adding: "They might bond over the dislike of Tom!"
Viewers of the show began to question Zara and Olivia's connection when fans discovered that the two contestants had commented on each other's Instagram photos back in 2020.
One of Zara's old posts features a comment left by Olivia in May which reads: "Fave photo of you," followed by a love-heart eye emoji. Meanwhile, Olivia also left a number of flame emojis on Zara's Instagram pictures.
© Photo: ITVOlivia is set to confront Tom about his kiss with Ellie in Tuesday's episode
Things are set to become even more heated in Tuesday night's episode as Zara reveals Tom and Ellie's secret kiss to Olivia - and it's safe to say that it doesn't go down well. Fans will have to tune in to the episode to find out how Olivia reacts to the news.
TV Presenter and Radio Broadcaster Sam Thompson (@SamThompsonUK) - catch Sam on Hit’s Radio from Monday - Thursday at 7pm.
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