How Ekin-Su’s already blown her attempt to go from zero to hero on Love Island – by snogging her mate’s man

TO quote Love Island’s unlikely prophet Luca Bish, you can read the same book twice but the ending will always be the same.

At least, that’s what former winner Ekin-Su Culculoglu was hoping when she signed up to return to the dating show.

She’s desperate to find that same adoration right now.

Not from an Italian hunk like Davide, who she won the series with in 2022, mind you – but with the British public.

Because for Ekin, Love Island All Stars isn’t about the £50k prize pot or finding a new boyfriend, it’s a primetime attempt to rekindle a romance with her fans.

And, sadly, I think she’s already blown it.

Today The Sun revealed that Ekin’s first move in the villa has been to snog her mate Maura Higgins’ fella – Curtis Pritchard.

Irish dancer Curtis and Maura dated for six months after reaching the final of 2019’s Love Island but things are frosty between them now, to say the least.

I chatted to Curtis before he went into the All Stars villa – his third stint on Love Island – and he scoffed at the idea he wouldn’t discuss their split, and was borderline dismissive of the I’m A Celebrity babe.

It left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

Yet here’s Ekin – who’s good pals with Maura –  kissing that very same man.

It’s the opposite of girl code.

What Ekin needs to do in that villa to overhaul her image is win back the girls, not seek drama.

She’s tried to create a storyline instead of being the sweet girl who I have met a number of times.

Behind closed doors Ekin can be vulnerable and kind, thoughtful to her pals, and a proper friend.

She’s funny and witty. I like her.

That all got lost in translation when she entered another ITV reality show, Celebrity Big Brother, last year.

Ekin was so focussed on proving she was more than just another Love Islander that she came across angry and defensive.

Ludicrously, she even took a swipe at girls who posed in their bikinis because she was so intent on trying to step away from that stereotype herself.

It was a disaster and lost her swathes of fans, with some even saying she’d managed to cancel herself.

Which is why it was such a surprise when Ekin signed up to boomerang back to Love Island – something she so deplored six months ago.

Chatting before her entry, Ekin said: “I want to return to Love Island again because it’s where my journey started and has a special place in my heart. It’s somewhere I’ve laughed, cried and learnt so much.

“The fact that there’s an opportunity to do it again – why not!

“Why can’t a winner go back in and re-write her story and have a second chance?

“I’m going to carry on being me. I’m more mature now and I’ve learnt some lessons along the way – I might not react the same way as I did a few years ago, or I might do! We’ll never know until I’m there.”

Her actions in the villa so far suggest Ekin is very much reacting in the same way to being under the gaze of the Love Island camera crew.

Locking lips with unlikely lothario Curtis is straight out of the Ekin-Su playbook of old.

It’s the clearest sign yet that she’s gone in the villa trying to recreate that ballsy magic of ‘22, when her devil may care drama-seeking saw her crawl on her hands and knees to seek out a snog.

Lightning never strikes twice and if Ekin really wants to win back the Facebook army, we need to see another side.

Not the side that’s snogging her mate’s man for airtime.