I’m a psychologist and here’s how long I think Love Island couples will last
LOVE Island has come to an end, but eagle-eyed fans will be watching the couples closely for many months and even years to come.
All the finalists look loved up on the final episode last night - in which Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and Davide Sanclimenti took the prize money.
But relationships post-show have lasted anything between a few days to indefinitely.
Many couples from previous series have ended up married and even with children.
Others who were expected to last longer sadly failed at challenges in the real world.
So who does celebrity psychologist Dr Arthur Cassidy - who has watched and analysed the Love Island 2022 series - think will last this time?
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He reveals his predictions in collaboration with …
FOURTH - Andrew and Tasha
Nine months plus
Dr Arthur suggested there was a lot of potential for Andrew Le Page and Tasha Ghouri, who he believes should have come in second or third place.
But, having already become officially a couple in the villa, will life outside be as sparkling as they hoped?
Dr Arthur said: “Love Islands first couple to be official boyfriend and girlfriend need to explore what being a couple really means outside the villa and how they will handle arguments and differences besides long term commitment.
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“How will they overcome boredom with each other and routine behaviours?”
Dr Arthur added: “Whilst Andrew demonstrates empathy he needs to work substantially harder on his maturity and emotional intelligence to survive in this relationship.
“He is definitely seen as impressive by Tasha’s father Tarek and this is the key factor and main hurdle to cross in order to develop their reciprocal love and journey across the months ahead.”
THIRD - Dami and Indiyah
A year or two
Dr Arthur has high hopes for “Damiyah” - Dami Hope and Indiyah Polack - who have been on a rollercoaster of a journey in the villa but consistently shown “fun, love and humour”.
He said: “[Dami’s] Irish charm and intelligence has endeared him to Indiyah as he only had eyes for her once he entered the villa.
“It was a case of what we call ‘mere exposure’ and a ‘primacy effect’, firm love and commitment shows authenticity and reality.”
Dr Arthur said despite Dami needing approval from Indiyah’s mum - who grilled him on her visit - Indiyah “has become much more mature and forgiving of Dami’s past betrayal”.
In the future, “they need to work really hard on core principles, beliefs and shared attitudes and how they will handle arguments and solve problems as a couple in the real world”.
SECOND PLACE - Gemma and Luca
Two or three months, “at a stretch”
Dr Arthur said: “I'm not convinced that this relationship or rather friendship has any of the necessary ingredients for a realistic coupling up in the real world, their core values are oceans apart.”
Luca Bish and Gemma Owen were able to score second place, but many fans suspected they were disappointed with the result.
Dr Arthur said: “Gemma particularly feels perhaps a little threatened by the cohesive maturity and emotional stability seen in Ekin-Su and Davide’s love, commitment and clarity.
“Her jealousy for Ekin-Su and Davide is evident throughout.
“Luca shows more stereotypical male traits of dominance hedonism and craves excitement.
“Dependent and possessive love has been expressed by him the past few days.”
Dr Arthur said this relationship - or more so a “superficial friendship” - doesn’t have legs because the two Islanders showed “no evidence or discussion about core beliefs and adherence, nor shared mutual activities”.
He added: “Much depends on her [Gemma’s] mum's approval of Luca. My advice to Luca, cast your fishing net deep into the Mediterranean.”
WINNERS - Ekin-Su and Davide
Six to nine months
It’s not what we want to hear - Dr Arthur believes the winning couple don’t have much more than nine months in their prospects.
He sees a “mutual love and respect” between the two, and a clear “journey of love”.
“However both still show insecurities for a healthy long term relationship,” he said.
“Trust is going to be a major issue for both at this point in time.
“Post-show they must develop their developmental aspects of worldview, core beliefs, moral reasoning, and similarity or dissimilarity of outlook.
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“Both are excited about their future but the real world's challenges and temptations will pose a genuine threat to the development of their love relationship.
“They need to work on their emotion focused coping skills and also their problem focused coping strategies.”