Love Island boss ‘secretly hoping two show legends couple up’ despite bitter split

LOVE Island’s big boss has revealed he ‘secretly hopes’ Liberty Poole and Jake Cornish get back together - despite having one of the most bitter break-ups in the show’s history.

Liberty coupled up with Jake on day one of the 2021 series and the pair - who were nicknamed Jiberty - looked like they would go all the way to the final.

However Jake was accused of ‘gaslighting her’ when he hinted that he wasn’t attracted to her, leaving Liberty to ultimately decide to self-evict from the villa and leave a single girl.

Now the pair are set to come face to face for the first time since their split in the explosive opening episode of All Stars - but Executive Producer reveals he is holding out for a reunion between them.

Quizzed on whether he thinks there is any chance of the former couple getting back together, Mike told The Sun: “I secretly hope so, I think it would be good. It would be good to see how they interact. That's what I'm excited to see, whether they pick up from where they left off. I don't think they've seen each other.

"So I'll be interested to see that first chat.”

While the pair have no idea that the other is doing the show as they have been in quarantine without phone or internet access since the line-up was announced, Mike doesn’t believe the Brummie lass will be overly fazed by seeing her ex.

“No, I don’t think she will be upset,” Mike explains. “Liberty’s amazing and I think she probably knows there’s a possibility he could come in. I don't know when the last time they spoke was, but I think it'll be interesting to see what happens. I think the fans will be excited.”

Of course Jake famously slated the show after his last stint in the villa, accusing the show of “turning him into a villain.”

In September 2021, he told : “There's stuff I have spoken to Lib about on camera that hasn't aired about how I was feeling. 

“It isn't nice I've been painted this way as a pantomime villain. It isn't the nicest to come across as someone I'm not.”

 Mike insists, however, there are no hard feelings from the bosses.

“When you leave the show, you go back into the real world and you have real emotions. With him and Liberty it was a very tense ending and he probably, at the time, was feeling all sorts of feelings. If you’re a bit angry after your time in the villa, that’s fine.

“Everyone on the show really wanted to do it again, and Jake’s back, he’s looking for love and he can’t wait to go back in.”

One person who is perhaps less keen to see a Jiberty reunion, however, is host Maya Jama.

Chatting to The Sun during the South African villa tour, Maya said: “Am I rooting for them to get back together? No. I think Liberty should do whatever she wants to do. Some people are meant to be together.

"Maybe she will find a new love, maybe they will rekindle a spark? Who knows? Anything can happen.”