What happened on Love Island 2023 last night? Episode 49 recap

If you missed yesterday's episode, not to worry. We're here to catch you up with RadioTimes.com's latest recap video.

Also, don't forget to check out our companion show, The Love Island Lowdown, for all the latest gossip, behind-the-scenes theories and predictions for the rest of season 9.

Last night's episode (Sunday 5th March) kicked off with the group breaking down Friday night's couple challenge, in which Ron and Lana Jenkins were voted the third most likely pair to have a game plan in the villa. Unsurprisingly, Ron wasn't happy, taking Lana aside to air his grievances before confronting Shaq over his decision to vote for them.

Sat at the firepit, Ron told Shaq that he was worried the results of the challenge would plant a seed of doubt in Lana's head, while Shaq said that he didn't want him to take it personally and that it was part of a challenge.

Having hugged it out, Ron discussed the challenge with Sanam Harrinanan, Kai Fagan, Tom Clare and Samie Elishi, telling them that he could see why they thought he was playing a game, adding: "When I was a viewer I thought, the ones who have their drama nice and early and then get comfy and treat it like a holiday, they’re the ones who are probably like, they just cruise.

"I can see why people probably thought, ‘Oh Lana and Ron are just cruising through.’ I’m not bothered by any of that. As I know I’m not, otherwise I never would have made her my girlfriend — it means too much to me."

He then dished out a bit of advice to Rosie Seabrook, who was questioning whether her relationship with Casey O'Gorman was one-sided after the challenge, telling her that she should take "a little bit of space" from him and that Casey "loves being one of the 'Three Musketeers'" with Tom and Will.

If this year's cast have proven anything this season, it's that they absolutely love to gossip — and that's exactly what they did after Ron's comments, with Tom telling Casey and Shaq that Ron had revealed his "game plan", while Samie did the same with the girls.

Meanwhile, Rosie told Casey about her own conversation with Ron, revealing his comments about Casey prioritising the boys over her. It wasn't long before Casey pulled Ron aside and the two hashed things out, with Ron saying that he never claimed Casey prioritised his time.

"So why has Rosie said that then?" he said. After pulling Rosie over to clarify, they agree to disagree with Casey saying: "I don't really know what to think to be honest with you. Ron's saying one thing, Rosie is saying the other. It's a sort of he-said-she-said situation and I'm stuck in the middle of it."

After a day of whispers, gossiping and tense chats, the islanders got ready for another evening in the villa and after toasting to his amazing friendships (oh, the irony!), Ron was dealt a bombshell by Lana.

She sat him down to let him know about what was being said behind his back, saying that the islanders thought he was playing a game. Ron was absolutely livid, storming over to Kai and Sanam to vent. "It's all f***ing stemmed from a s****y little game yesterday," Kai said.

"It was a shock yesterday when you's two were up there, it actually was a shock so now I feel like they're just like trying to pin it on you's because you're still the strongest couple."

With the episode leaving us on a major cliffhanger as Ron prepared to go to war over the rumours, we're on tenterhooks ahead of tonight's episode – with Ron set to confront Samie before the annual Love Island talent show.

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

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