It feels like just yesterday that we were watching the first episode of the summer series of Love Island 2023, so it’s hard to believe that we’ve actually been hooked to the action in the villa for over two weeks!

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Last night’s episode was no different, as the rumbling drama between Sammy Root and Jess Harding continued after she revealed to her partner that she was interested in getting to know gas engineer Mitchel Taylor.

While Sammy wasn’t best pleased with the information, the entrance of host Maya Jama put a spanner in the works - as the couples were left to make big decisions about the future of two of the pairings.

If you didn’t manage to catch the episode (where have you been?!), then RadioTimes.com’s handy recap video should help.

But you can also read on to find out exactly what happened during the 16th instalment of this year’s summer Love Island…

What happened on Love Island summer 2023 last night? Episode 16 recap

Molly Marsh, Zachariah Noble, Jess Harding and Sammy Root looking intrigued
Molly Marsh, Zachariah Noble, Jess Harding and Sammy Root.

While Whitney Adebayo was floating on air after her first kiss with Medhi Edno, excitedly laughing to the girls: “He told me everything I wanted to hear, and then it left my brain!” Jess was left confused after her conversation with Mitchel.

The end of Monday’s episode saw the pair admit they did have a connection and want to get to know each other, and after a conversation with Catherine Agbaje and Ella Thomas - who revealed in the Beach Hut how she thought her friends “should let Sammy sweat” - Jess realised she should be honest with her current partner.

As you can imagine, the conversation went down like a lead balloon with Sammy, and after Jess realised she wasn’t getting anywhere with him, the project manager told the boys that she was “hypocritical with a capital H” for admitting that she wanted to get to know Mitch.

They tried once more that evening to revisit their conversation, and Sammy revealed his head was spinning by the aesthetics practitioner’s confession. “I was very closed-off with you and now things have changed with me,” he said.

Sammy stormed off as Jess branded him “immature” - and the situation was exacerbated when he snidely labelled Mitch a “hero” when he went to comfort Jess.

“I could have dropped you out two times,” she raged at him. “F*** off mate, you’re just a little boy.”

Maya Jama, Mitchel Taylor, Leah Taylor, Sammy Root and Jess Harding stood outside the villa at night
Maya Jama had news for Mitchel Taylor, Leah Taylor, Sammy Root and Jess Harding.

The next morning, things were still tense between the couple, with the other islanders noticing that Sammy looked like a “lost puppy” without his partner.

And while other couples enjoyed a romantic brunch, the meal ended in yet another hushed argument for the pair as they tried to resolve their differences - with Sammy admitting, “I do care about you and I do want it to work.”

Elsewhere, Medhi and Whitney came crashing back to earth from their romantic evening after realising they want different things from life. The French model wants to move back to his home country at the end of the summer, but Whitney wants to stay in London - and Medhi looked rather alarmed after the entrepreneur admitted that she wants to be a young mum.

While Medhi insisted he is attracted to Whitney in spite of their opposing opinions, will it be enough to go the distance?

Ella and her partner Tyrique Hyde also had another small spat when he backtracked from his answer in Sunday’s challenge and said he was closed-off “as of now”.

“It’s not about how you feel in the moment, it’s how you feel full stop,” fumed Ella.

And just when we thought the day couldn’t have got off to a more awkward start, presenter Maya then returned to the villa - and dropped the bombshell that each pairing must decide which two couples are the least compatible.

Although this led to terse words being exchanged within each couple, the islanders were eventually summoned to the fire pit later in the day to reveal their choices - and left Jess and Sammy, and Mitchel and Leah Taylor in the bottom two pairings.

In another twist, Maya explained how all four couples were now single, and they are not allowed to recouple with each other at the next stage of the competition.

And if that wasn’t enough news for one evening, they were not the only single islanders in the villa - as two more bombshells were waiting outside to date them!

Sammy looked particularly unhappy about the news, as he felt he and Jess were far more compatible than both Medhi and Whitney and Scott van der Sluis and Catherine, who he claimed hadn’t been honest in their choices.

But nonetheless, the episode ended with the introduction of the next two bombshells Mal Nicol and Montel McKenzie - and we can’t wait to see what they get up to tonight!

Love Island airs on ITV2 at 9pm. You can watch all previous seasons of Love Island on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial.

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