The stars of Love Island 2023 were preparing to return to the real world on Wednesday when they headed back to the UK after two months in the villa.
But before reuniting with their friends and families, the islanders took the time to connect with their newfound fans, rushing to social media immediately after being reunited with their phones.
Third place star Ella Thomas wasted no time checking out the TikTok reactions to her romance with Tyrique Hyde, with winner Sammy Root catching her scrolling through the app.
After seeing one of their fiery altercations trending on TikTok, she decided to recreate the moment by filming herself saying to Tyrique at the airport, “You can’t be friendly, girls consider friendly to be flirty.” Shut it down!’
Although they could laugh now, it referred to a tense time in the villa when Tyrique was being chased by bombshell Ella Barnes.
Poking fun: Love Island’s Ella Thomas and Tyrique Hyde recreated one of their fights over a villa when they got their phones back before returning to the UK on Tuesday
Loving life: Also jumping fast on TikTok was runner-up Whitney Adebayo filming herself dancing with Jess Harding before boarding the plane
Also quick on TikTok, Whitney Adebayo jumped second, filming herself dancing with Jess Harding before boarding the plane.
Fourth place star Molly Marsh had a message for her fans, writing, “@loveisland over & out! I want to give you all the biggest hugs for being so supportive through my journey and coming home to see that all the love means more than you can imagine!
“I want to take the time to respond to anyone who is so bald (sic) with me and I will update you all so quickly I can’t wait to get back to doing what I love the most.”
However, she stayed away from TikTok after boyfriend Zach Noble was horrified when he discovered her “cringe” content.
Molly’s TikTok account has been a major source of her online fame, mostly thanks to the platform’s algorithm that has led her videos to everyone’s For You page.
The basketball player, 25, and the musical theater performer, 21, appeared on the Love Island: The Morning After podcast on Tuesday.
Host Sam Thompson showed Zach one of Molly’s videos of her doing the “I’m looking for my friends” trend. He said: “I want you to do this dance with Molly.”
Zach said in shock, “Do you want me to do this?”
Unlucky: While Ella and Tyrique could laugh now, it was a reference to a tense time at the villa when Tyrique was chased by bombshell Ella Barnes
Caught: Sammy Root caught Ella watching videos of Tyrique on TikTok and after scrolling through the app, she noticed one of their fiery altercations was trending on the app
Fun times: Whitney and Jess went on Instagram Live together on Tuesday after getting their phones back outside the villa
Reunited (sort of): Whitney and Lochan Nowacki caught up with dumped islanders Catherine Agbaje and Mitchel Taylor in an Instagram Live on Tuesday night
Smitten: Ella and Tyrique cozy up for snaps before boarding their plane home
See you later: the couple seemed ready to go home after two months in Mallorca
Sweet: The Love Island winners held hands as they strolled through the airport
Snap happy: The girls got together to take selfies before catching their flight
Hiya: Molly Marsh looked cheerful as she snapped photos with boyfriend Zach Noble
Adorable: Molly also made sure to sit with winner Jess for a sweet selfie
Fun times: Molly danced up a storm as she posed next to Zach in the terminal
Thanks: Fourth place star Molly had a message for her fans as she thanked everyone for supporting her on her journey
Molly added, “Here’s what you’re gonna do!” Please don’t worry.’
Zach yelled at Molly, “Should’ve told me about this before I felt Molly”
Sam claimed, “Mate, if you do that, you’ll get millions of views.” For the content!
Zach explained, ‘6’5ft South East Londoner do I? Come on. I’ll do my best I think’
Before entering the Love Island villa, she already had about 600,000 followers, thanks to her posts featuring dance trends, outfit videos, and signature influencer content.
However, since her appearance on the show, her follower count has skyrocketed to 924,000 and continues to grow.
Love Island came to an end on Monday night, with Jess and Sammy winning.
The pair left fans stunned as they pushed Whitney Adebayo and Lochan Nowacki to the post for the £50,000 prize, with Whitney and Lochan being voted the favorites to the end.
After the winners were announced, many viewers took to Twitter to express their dismay at the result, with some even claiming that the vote had been “rigged.”
During a post-show interview, the pair opened up about their win, where they talked about how they were “shocked through their system” by the unexpected win.
Project manager Sammy, 22, said of their win: ‘It feels great, it’s hard to put into words, but it’s very surreal.’
While esthetician Jess, also 22, shared: ‘I feel like it was a close call and everyone did so well. To win it is in the clouds. Very positive, happy and overwhelmed.’
Sammy added, “As Jess said, when we stood there, we looked at everyone and thought they were all worth winning.
“It was hard to work it out. When our names were called, it was a shock to the system, but a nice shock.”
Kerching: Whitney took advantage of duty-free when she splashed the cash at the airport
Heya: Zach and Tyrique took selfies in the airport terminal
Time at home: Lochan and Zach snapped photos as they waited to board their plane
The much-loved duo added that they were looking forward to their romance now that they were out of the villa, with Jess commenting: ‘I feel like I’m ready to enjoy the outside world with Sammy.
“It’s been a great opportunity and I’m thankful that I started it and finished it as a winner, so I’m very happy.”
While Sammy said, ‘It’s been a really long journey and I’ve loved every step of the way, the best two months of my life. It’s exciting for us to break through on the outside.’
Speaking about their future, the duo shared that they plan to start traveling together, perhaps to Asia, adding that they don’t want to “rush” anything and just “have fun.”