To be honest, none of the iconic Islander names dropped during yesterday's Love Island: All Stars cast announcement really surprised us; come on, it's our job to know this stuff. That being said, one name left us absolutely floored – Elma Pazar. Sorry, WHAT?
The Love Island 2019 star turned TOWIE queen turned All Stars contestant seemed pretty settled in her boujie life as a TOWIE main character x influencer, so to be honest, we wrote her off here from the suspects' list.
We genuinely thought her Islander days were well and truly behind her, but ITV has this week confirmed they are our overlords and that Elma is returning to the villa on Monday 13 January for a second chance of love as an All Stars OG.
We saw that journey for Sammy Root, sure, but not Elma. But, to be fair, our girl has been pretty unlucky in love on TOWIE in recent years (looking at you, Diags), so perhaps it's time to go back to the reality telly drawing board and give it another go.
Closer online recently caught up with the ITV queen (honestly - she could give Olivia Attwood a run for her money at this point) and, of course, we HAD to find out what her TOWIE chums made of her exciting news and whether she shared the secret with any of them and we'll be honest, this question threw our Elma. Bless her.
Slightly panicked, she replied, 'I think I only told two of my cast mates, and that was because...did I even tell two? I think I only told one cast mate. That was it. And I didn't tell them until I was going.'
Lest we forget that Islanders are not meant to tell anyone about their plans to join the show as to not ruin anything for the fandom. But of course, loads probably do, 'cause come on – what a brag.
When asked who she told, Emma admitted that she didn't want to tell many of her TOWIE cast members because she didn't want anyone getting cross that she didn't tell them first. And while, yes, this sounds like a cop out, the TOWIE cast have rowed over far, FAR less.
Elma revealed, 'I'm not going to drop in names, because they're all gonna get cross I didn't tell them first. So we're going to avoid the arguments for when I get back. I'm not going to drop any names for that. But yeah, I only told one, because I'm not allowed to say anyway, am I? So it's pointless sitting there telling everyone. And obviously I wanted everyone to be shocked, and I knew that everyone's going to support me anyway. I'm quite lucky on TOWIE, like all my friends are, are solid. I'd like to think that they're not cross and they're all happy.'
If they're anything like us, Elma, they're shocked and THRILLED. We imagine Sammy Root – who is tipped to be entering the villa as an All Stars bombshell – is feeling similar.
WATCH: While we wait for the girls to enter the Love Island All Stars 2025 villa, here are the boys they were coupled up with on their original series
Ben Pulsford is a digital writer for Bauer Media, writing for both Closer online and heatworld. When he's not getting paid to gossip about Big Brother, Love Island and The Real Housewives of Cheshire, he's storming the London LGBTQ+ scene as drag queen, Beary Poppins. Both Ben and Beary are awaiting an invite to join The Real Housewives of Cheshire for series 18. The budget's not there, but the drama is 💅.