Love Island exclusive: Josh Oyinsan reveals secret history with Ronnie Vint

While you’d think Love Island producers would want to gather people from all over the UK, it seems like the Love Island 2024’s casting crew looked at a single borough of south London and thought ‘good enough.’

This season there was a whole host of Islanders who had already dated or flirted before coming into the show. Joey Essex and Grace Jackson were an item before being reunited in the villa, and he was also previously acquainted with Casa Amor’s Emma Milton.

However, Joey wasn’t the only one with pre-existing connections. Ciaran Davies had - somehow unbeknownst to himself - slid into Ellie Jackson’s DM’s pre-Love Island, and even Casa Amor’s Blade Siddiqi and Diamanté Laiva had history.

Not only did Ronnie Vint know Love Island 2017’s Olivia Attwood before he entered the villa - he can even be spotted in her wedding pictures - he also snogged Uma Jammeh and he knew Matilda Draper before she entered the villa, having been pals with one of her exes.

Now, it turns out that Ronnie also goes way back with none other than the winner, Josh Oyinsan.

Josh was crowned the Love Island 2024 winner alongside Mimii Ngulube after some ups and downs, but in fairness, who in that villa didn’t have ups and downs. Despite Josh being a considerably late entry to the villa, he quickly became a fan favourite, not only because our fav girl Mimii fell for him, but also because of his general dreaminess.

Closer sat down with Josh to discuss how exactly he knew cheeky chappy Ronnie before they entered the Love Island villa. As it turns out, it’s a classic lad answer.

Josh said, “[I knew] Ronnie a little bit, because we played football against each other. We played a few times against each other.”

While this is quite wholesome and it does open doors for a Love Island five aside team, we sort of prefer when people are reunited with exes dramatically à la Liberty Poole and Jake Cornish or Callum Jones and Molly Smith on Love Island All Stars. Now that's what we call great telly.

WATCH Love Island's Harriett Blackmore reveals she got in trouble with producers for using a secret code

Sarah O'Byrne has written about Love Island for heat and Closer since May 2023, and she may be the last person on earth not to have met Ronnie Vint.