From their fights to their make-ups, Love Island’s Davide Sanclimenti and Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu are firm favourites to win the season – with the RadioTimes.com team, at least.
The pair have cemented their places in the Love Island hall of fame with their instantly iconic one-liners, takedowns and, of course, their now famous sparring.
The villa’s “Mum and Dad” and “divorced couple” have been through their ups and downs, so for all those who wish to celebrate everything Ekinde, we’ve put together a list of their highlights so far. Enjoy.
Why Davide and Ekin-Su should win Love Island – Ekinde’s best moments
1) “Liar, actress!”
It wouldn’t be a round-up of Davide and Ekin-Su’s greatest moments on Love Island without a mention of their first-ever argument in the villa.
After Ekin got caught crawling around with Jay Younger on the terrace, Davide went full flip mode squad on her, calling her a “liar, actress” and saying that she deserved an Oscar.
He ended the argument by telling her to “Go the f**k out”, adding: “I hope you find the love of your life because me and you are closed.”
– Grace Henry, Entertainment and Factual Editor
2) The ‘new girl’
In one of the funniest moments featured on Unseen Bits this year, the boys decide to pull a prank on the girls by claiming they’ve received a text about new bombshells “Abby and Immy” entering the villa. Knowing Davide inside-out, Ekin-Su sees straight through their plan and predicts (correctly): “One of them is going to dress up as a girl.”
Lo and behold, Davide struts back into the villa in a pink two-piece and heels, shouting, “Hey girls! Is there anyone in the villa?” to the delight of everyone else. Clearly, Ekin-Su and “Abby” are meant to be!
– Lauren Morris, Entertainment and Factual Writer
3) “Fake like the Louis Vuitton from China”
Davide delivered another quality one-liner during yet another lover’s tiff with Ekin-Su. As the pair argued – this time about Ekin’s alleged “flirting” with returning bombshell Adam Collard – Davide stormed off, but not before branding her: “Fake as the Louis Vuitton from China.”
– Grace Henry, Entertainment and Factual Editor
4) “Fire pepper”
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/07/loveislandsr8ep3209-d646905.jpg?quality=90&crop=283px%2C0px%2C1621px%2C1080px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
While just about everything Davide says may go straight in the book of the best Love Island quotes of all time, Ekin-Su has held her own and the highlight has got to be (as so many of these moments are) a case of Davide vs Ekin – this time a big post-Casa Amor one.
After finding out her man had snogged Casa new girl Mollie Salmon, the future Oscar-winning actress, dressed in a bright orange, attempted to keep a straight face and maintain her anger long enough to put him in his place on camera – and failed, the ‘Italian stallion’ and his innate ability to make her laugh in spite of herself striking again.
“There’s a reason why I dressed this colour: to be a f**king fire pepper!” she announced. “I’m feeling fiery now.”
“Fiery?” Davide teased. “I know you feel drama tonight. Ekin-Su is back!”
Ekinde’s pitch-perfect understanding of reality TV performance remains unbeaten.
– Minnie Wright, News Editor
5) Davide wishes he could pie and marry Ekin-Su
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/07/love-island-ekin-su-40841e1.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
Ekin-Su and Davide’s relationship might have hit the rocks a few times, but their humour shone through in the Snog, Marry, Pie challenge. Neither opted to kiss the other, choosing instead to kiss Paige Thorne and Adam Collard for a bit of a laugh and to tease each other as we’ve seen throughout their romance.
They showed their soft side when they opted to propose to each other, before pieing those that have doubted them as a couple – even though Davide wanted to propose and pie Ekin-Su for everything they’ve been through! It felt real, so typically them and just a perfect moment to consolidate how they feel about each other before whispering the all-important “ti amo” to each other later in that episode.
– Helen Daly, Associate Editor
6) Ekin-Su can see past his “perfect body”
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/07/Davide-at-the-recoupling-dbbe95e.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
It’s no secret Davide loves himself, and during one recoupling speech he let that be known. While the other boys gushed about the girl they wanted to couple up with, Davide’s speech went a little differently – and was more about him than Ekin.
Revealing his reasons for coupling up with the actress, Davide described her as “one of the few girls to… see that, apart from the perfect body, there is also something special inside me”. Lol!
– Grace Henry, Entertainment and Factual Editor
7) Making wine
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/07/loveislandsr8ep2520-b430099.jpg?quality=90&crop=12px%2C0px%2C1427px%2C951px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
After their sweet reconciliation as Ekin-Su made clear she did not want to bring more drama and assured Davide that he could trust her, the pair were rewarded with a date where they got to grips with winemaking.
The pair were their most affectionate and tactile yet as they got to grips with the grapes. The pair even sensually washed each other’s feet after.
Following this, the pair made clear how they felt about each other, with Davide praising Ekin-Su for her “strong” character and how she doesn’t listen to the opinions of others like him, and Ekin-Su silencing his “cute” praise with a kiss.
– Lewis Knight, Trends Editor
8) Davide the waiter
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/07/Davide-Sanclimenti-brining-Ekin-food-afe18b2.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
Davide proved that he’s a man of many talents, as he turned waiter for the evening while Ekin-Su was getting to know Jacques O’Neill.
Despite telling the other islanders that he didn’t care, Davide couldn’t resist being a petty king, as he interrupted their flirty conversation. Wearing a napkin over his arm, he jokingly said: “Guys it’s getting late, so I thought you guys are hungry, so I’m gonna leave some chips. Just some water, in case you’re thirsty. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
– Grace Henry, Entertainment and Factual Editor
9) Giggles on the day bed
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/07/Davide-and-Ekin-Su-5619fde.jpg?quality=90&crop=112px%2C0px%2C1621px%2C1080px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
No one would’ve predicted at the beginning of the season that Davide and Ekin-Su would be the ones giving us the most heartwarming, adorable romance snippets – but here we are.
A recent moment demonstrated how far the pair have come on their journey together as they snuggled on the day bed during some downtime in the evening, sharing a rare instance of sincerity. After Davide murmured that he really wanted to make the most of what was left of their time on the show together, Ekin told him: “You know what, you really calm me, I don’t know why. But then you also make me silly – I can laugh with you. I always wanted a partner who I could laugh with and be serious with.”
“And here you are,” Davide Davide-ed in peak Davide style in response, prompting the exact laughter she’d just been referring to. ADORABLE.
– Minnie Wright, News Editor
10) “Do you still have feelings for me?”
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/07/loveislanddavideekinsu-80eab11.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413" "\"\"")
It’s been a bumpy road to amore for Davide and Ekin-Su – a sentiment epitomised perfectly by the moment Ekin-Su tried to work out whether there was still a spark between her and Davide after the balcony crawling incident.
When Davide informs Ekin-Su that “karma is a b***h”, she asks him: “Do you still care about me?” with him delivering the savage response of: “No.” Thankfully for the both of them, that’s all changed now!
– Lauren Morris, Entertainment and Factual Writer
11) Ekin-Su takes a chance on love
![""]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/07/loveislandsr8ep2417-a448f94.jpg?quality=90&crop=173px%2C0px%2C1621px%2C1080px&resize=620%2C413" "\"\"")
Back when all the drama with Jay ended, Ekin-Su and Davide still continued to spar with each other and it was clear the fire had not gone out.
When it came to the recoupling in episode 24, Ekin had a choice between current couple partner Charlie Radnedge, former flame Jay, or the original boy to catch her eye: Davide.
However, after they fell apart when Ekin-Su pursued Jay after feeling neglected by Davide – could she take that second chance with her Italian stallion?
When it came to the recoupling, Ekin-Su emotionally said: “I didn’t know whether to play it safe or take a risk. I personally would like to give this person a chance and I’m hoping he would too. Therefore, the boy I want to couple up with is Davide.” Afterwards, Davide hugged her and sat beside her and told her it was a “nice speech” and Ekin-Su linked her arm through his. Cute.
– Lewis Knight, Trends Editor
New episodes of Love Island air at 9pm on ITV2 and ITV Hub every day except Saturday. Episodes are available the following morning on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial. Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now – subscribe now and get the next 12 issues for only £1. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast with Jane Garvey.