Who is Ovie Soko? Meet the Love Island Casa Amor contestant who already knows an Islander
The pro basketball player has links to a series four star
Casa Amor tore up Love Island – with things turning upside down after the couples were split up and surrounded by temptations.
Here’s all you need to know about Ovie – an Islander with a surprising link to the 2018 series...
- When is the Love Island 2019 final?
- Meet the cast of Love Island 2019
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Meet Ovie Soko….
Who is Ovie coupled up with? India.
Age: 28
From: London
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Job: Professional basketball player
Instagram: @oviesoko
Ovie is already Instagram famous, with a verified blue tick.
This is probably down to the fact he plays basketball for the UK – something that he feels will help him succeed in the villa.
“They seem like cool people,” he said. “I’m competitive but I’m in the locker room with 14 other big egos on a high level sports team and we all get along just fine, so I think I’ll be okay.”
However, Ovie won’t be afraid to push past people in order to couple up with who he really fancies.
“Treading on toes? Is there any such thing in Love Island?” he said. “People are going to be put in tough spots on this show. I’m not worried, I’m not going to be disrespectful, I’m confident I bring enough to the table.”
And Ovie’s confidence as an international sports player shines through, as he rates himself a solid eight out of ten – on an international scale.
“I feel like I’m an 8 but an international 8, some people call themselves a 10 but you can be a 10 in one place and go to the opposite side of the world and be a 4,” he said. “Wherever I go around the world, I think I can be an 8. My best feature is my personality, I am just a vibe and people like being around my energy.”
It seems like it’s a pretty small world for Love Islanders, with Ovie adding he knows last year’s last-minute bombshell Alexandra Cane, as they went to school together.
What is Ovie looking for?
Ovie was keen to couple up with Anna from the start.
“I’ve been watching her from the beginning and she has consistently been on my radar,” he said.
But Ovie, who lists his celeb crushes as Meghan Markle and Rihanna, says that he may suffer from Anton’s “wandering eye” affliction.
“I’m not going to go in there and say I like a girl with the intention to turn away at the first opportunity but I’ll be honest, if someone else comes in and there is a higher level of mental connection – which I think is what will do it for me – there is a possibility that I could have a wandering eye,” he said.
What has Ovie been up to in the villa?
Turning heads. Ovie had his sights set on Anna, with the pair sharing a steamy smooch in the Sexy Charades challenge before they shared a bed on the first night.
Anna told him: “The thing about you that I like is that if we were to start something at least there is some kind of potential there with you. I do like Jordan but with Jordan I don’t feel like it would grow into something.”
She then opted to couple up with Ovie, looking sheepish on returning to the villa arm-in-arm with her new man to discover Jordan had remained loyal to her...
But Ovie and Anna were not quite as secure as he thought, with the pharmacist confessing that she still wanted to feel things out with Jordan, which left Ovie rather unhappy.
They later split, with Anna returning to Jordan. Although angry at first, Ovie soon became the picture of calm in the villa...
When it came to the recoupling, Ovie was more than a little anxious after failing to impress new girl Francesca (seriously, Francesca? You preferred Curtis?) but he needn't have feared, as Amber chose to couple up as friends.
There was later more good news for Ovie, after he was chosen for a date by new Islander, Harley. But fellow newcomer India quickly set her sights on the sportsman and the pair shared a smooch in private on the terrace the evening after their first date, and then again in front of their other islanders during a challenge.
She then chose him in the girls'-choice recoupling, much to Chris's disappointment.
However, a challenge later revealed that a portion of the public think that India is just after Ovie for the money, which hit a nerve with the basketballer, who says he constantly has to worry about whether people are being genuine with him. But after a DMC with India, the pair are now stronger than ever.
On their final date (a romantic, candlelit dinner) Ovie confessed his feelings - which led to hearts breaking across the nation when he referred to himself as a "guardian angel".
"I would say this is a hell of a start to something," he told India. "At one point, it looked like I wasn’t going to be in a romantic couple at all. I felt like I just had the role of the guardian angel over Amber. When I walked into that date, you stood out to me so clear. It really changed the whole experience for me. It’s brightened up my days."
The couples were asked in their pairs to vote for the least compatible couples — and only Tommy and Molly-Mae, and Amber and Greg, received no votes, putting them through to the final. However, the public opted to save Ovie and his partner India, meaning they'll also be in Monday's final.
Despite only having been coupled up for less than two weeks, Ovie and India placed third in the final - with Ovie now preparing to take India to a family barbecue.
Love Island continues weeknights and Sundays at 9pm on ITV2