What happened on Love Island 2023 last night? Episode 12 recap

First up, we saw the debut of both the brand-new Hideaway Retreat and the Treehouse, after the islanders received a text alerting them that the locations were now open for business. They were tasked with selecting one couple to be the first to experience a night of luxury and were ultimately unanimous in their verdict of Tanya Manhenga and Shaq Muhammad.

Meanwhile, Spencer Wilks and Olivia and Ron Hall and Ellie Spence were the first two couples to head to the Treehouse for some 1:1 dates, and there were some particularly interesting moments during the latter's conversation.

Ellie had caused major drama in the previous episode by coupling up with Ron – who had previously been paired with Lana Jenkins – and early in last night's episode, the financial adviser reassured Lana that his head wasn't about to be turned.

“I want to be respectful, but I also want to be selfish," he told her, before clarifying that his hope was to "Carry on with us… I don’t think she has a chance of swaying me."

He added: “I think I’m gonna do something mad and ‘dead it’ tonight. I just want to, I feel like we are too good. When I spend time with you there’s no way she’s ever going to touch this.”

However, he appeared to backtrack on those words during his actual date with Ellie, telling the business development executive that he wasn't closing himself off and that he wanted to give the new couple a chance to see whether or not it is better than what he has with Lana. Whichever way this goes, it seems there's going to be some guaranteed drama on the cards...

Speaking of drama, the episode closed with the aforementioned game of dares, in which the islanders were each tasked with popping a balloon in "the sexiest way possible" in order to unlock a dare.

Olivia's dare was to snog the two islanders she thought were most attracted to her, and she opted for first Tom Clare and then Spencer – with Zara clearly none too happy about her first choice. This was made all the more clear when Zara's own dare was to choose the least trustworthy and she unsurprisingly chose Olivia.

Meanwhile, Tom risked causing further drama when he was asked to name the three Islanders that would make up his perfect partner and he picked Olivia for face, Zara for body, and Lana for personality.

It remains to be seen what the fallout from that choice will be, but it's safe to say Zara didn't look best pleased...

Love Island airs on ITV2 and ITVX at 9pm. Previous seasons of Love Island are available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial.

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