Love Island's Casa Amor is missing a crucial element for 2021 series

Introduced in series three, Casa Amor has been responsible for some of the biggest rows and splits the show has ever seen (remember Georgia and Josh?!).

It's the twist that viewers look forward to most, with fans calling for it to inject some energy into series seven from as early as week one, as the show got off to a much slower start than usual this year.

Thankfully series seven has picked up quite a bit this week, with Hugo Hammond's speech giving fans the drama that Love Island has been missing, as he decided to couple up with Chloe Burrows after Toby ditched her, admitting: "She doesn’t deserve to be treated how she has [been] this past 24 hours."

With Casa Amor on the way, we expect lots more drama to follow, with the show's host Laura Whitmore recently admitting on her Instagram that it "throws a massive spanner in the works. It'll all change."

But when it comes to this year's Casa Amor, there's just something that doesn't feel right. This year's Love Island is missing a major element for Casa Amor - and it has a lot to do with the Love Island 2021 contestants.

The thing that makes Casa Amor so explosive is that the by the time it happens, the Love Island couples are all cosy and comfortable in their relationships. They've usually been in their pairs for some time, and it looks like they might even make it to the end of the competition together.

So, what better way to test those relationships and weed out the showmances from the true loves with some fresh meat, which Casa Amor supplies in bucket loads.

The key ingredient here is in the strength of the couples – something this year is lacking.

In series four, Georgia Harrison was head over heels for Josh Denzel, so when he returned to the main villa with Kaz Crossley, everyone's jaw dropped (and it subsequently led to her "loyal" catchphrase.)

In series five, Amber Gill had just started to let her guard down for Michael Griffiths, only to return to the villa and see him with new girl Joanna Chimonides.

Similarly, Amy Hart came back to tell Curtis Pritchard that she was in "love" with him, all while he'd been getting close to model Jourdan Rianne. To make matters worse, Jourdan didn't even couple up with him, so that was a complete waste.

Apart from Liberty Poole and Jake Cornish who have been coupled up from the start and are now official, a lot of the Love Island contestants have struggled to find a connection this year.

Liam Reardon and Millie Court look like they could be going strong after Liam, 21, resisted the temptation of late arrival AJ Bunker who laid it on Factor 50 thick, so hats off to him. They also enjoyed a date recently and spoke about meeting each other's families, so Casa Amor could apply some pressure to their situation.

And then there's Faye Winter and Teddy Soares, who have stuck together throughout the most recent recouplings, but we don't really get to see much of them on air, so it's hard to tell how they really feel about one another.

But, that's about it when it comes to the couples.

Of course, our girl Kaz is now coupled up with hunky Tyler Cruickshank, but by Sunday's episode they would have only have been together for three days, which in the Love Island world probably feels like a couple of weeks, but is still very early days.

Lucinda Strafford is finally in a couple with Aaron Francis, after her partner Danny Bibby was dumped from the island, but they're not official. And based on her track record (she told Brad he's the only guy she'd ever fancy before he left, only to crack on with his 'pal' a day later) we highly doubt she'll be coming back to declare her undying love for the 24-year-old events manager.

That leaves Toby Aromolaran, Abigail Rawlings, Chloe Burrows and Hugo Hammond.

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While Toby and Abi are in a romantic couple, they only chatted for a few hours before he decided to pick hr, and Toby also has form for moving on very quickly - no, we haven't forgotten what you did to Kaz, and we're patiently waiting for the right vote to take care of you.

But Chloe isn't much different. Since she arrived on the show as a bombshell, she's been coupled up with Aaron, Brad, Hugo, and Toby, and now she's back with Hugo. So, it's pretty safe to assume she'll probably be cracking on with a new guy once Casa Amor arrives depending on the results of the vote.

As for Hugo, it's not entirely clear what he wants anymore because he's had a few chances with Faye, Sharon, AJ and most recently Georgia Townend, who made her feelings for him very clear before he dumped her for his "friend" Chloe - lovely!

During his speech about Chloe, he hinted he could be interested in something more than a friendship, as he said: "Who knows what could happen? Stranger things have happened."

But straight after this, Chloe majorly friend-zoned him in the beach hut while thanking him for keeping her safe. Based on this, the PE teacher is probably better off looking elsewhere when the doors for Casa Amor fly open if he plans on continuing what can only be described as an early six weeks' school holiday.

With the lack of commitment and all these single people running around the villa, it just doesn't feel like Casa Amor will be able to deliver what we're used to it delivering.

Following this week's events, some drama is inevitable – we can thank the producers for making Toby immune from the public vote for that. But this year's Casa Amor won't be the same because these couples are just not strong enough to be tested.

The likelihood is many of them will be jumping ship and even if they don't - in the words of Georgia - stay "loyal" to their other half, most of us won't be that bothered anyway, as we were never invested in those relationships to begin with.

From where I'm sitting, as long as Jake doesn't mug off our girl Lib, Kaz is all good, and Millie stays smiling, whatever happens down in Casa Amor happens.

When it comes to everyone else, it just feels way too typical of their recent behaviour to move on to someone else if given the chance.

What could spice things up and make Casa Amor juicier this year, however, is if a former islander made a comeback, which Brad McClelland has hinted at.

During an Instagram Q&A, the former islander, 26, was asked if he'd go back on the show, to which he responded: "Not that I know of. But it’s Love Island so who knows, eh?”

The returning islander would literally have to be Brad and Brad alone, though, so he can pull Lucinda for a chat and find out whether she's still coming to visit his fam in Amble or if it's the real deal with Aaron.

Chuggs and Shannon didn't really get much of a chance (Shannon was literally dumped on day two), so there isn't really a former islander apart from Brad who had a connection with someone.

We love Sharon Gaffka, but she didn't manage to form anything stronger with one of the boys, so there's just no point in her returning to Casa Amor where it will be most of the same faces, because who's she going to crack on with then? Please, not Hugo again!

Unless the current couples have a major intervention the night before Casa Amor and start to magically form some deeper bonds, which we highly doubt at this point (especially for Toby), Casa Amor just won't feel the same this year. It's supposed to test relationships - most of these contestants will happily fail!

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