JULIA MAJCHRZAK AND Lorenzo Alessi have been crowned the winners of this year\u2019s Love Island on ITV2.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s series was popular, with Irish islanders forming a large part of the drama.\u00a0<\/p>\n
UK viewers voted for Julia and Lorenzo as their favourite couple, beating runners-up Jasmine Muller and Kavan Murphy to the title.<\/p>\n
Angelista Gunda and Simba Kudyiwa came in third place, with this series being the first time that only three couples have been in the final after a surprise elimination at the start of the last episode.<\/p>\n
Julia, a 26-year-old insurance broker, entered the series late in the game as a Casa Amor bombshell (a key point in the series when existing couples are tested by new arrivals).<\/p>\n
Julia turned the head of 27-year-old Lorenzo and booked a spot in the main house.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lorenzo, who had been in the show since the beginning, remained a favourite with viewers and admitted he \u201cmanifested\u201d meeting Julia in Casa Amor.<\/p>\n
Julia told presenter Maya Jama that she felt an \u201cinstant spark with Lorenzo\u201d but she did not expect to be standing in the final coming into the show later during the series.<\/p>\n
The winners received a \u00a350,000 (\u20ac58,000) prize to split between the couple. Julia suggested that the couple would spend the cash on moving in together after the series.<\/p>\n
Now that it\u2019s all done and over with, how good was this year\u2019s series?<\/p>\n
Love Island continues to be one of ITV\u2019s top programmes, with the launch show garnering over\u00a02.1 million viewers<\/a>, despite a decrease from its pre-Covid glory days (the 2019 launch show drew in\u00a03.3 million viewers)<\/a>.<\/p>\n Presenter and pop culture guru, Fionnuala Jay believed that this year\u2019s series was more entertaining and interesting compared to previous recent years.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the producers recognise that after 13 seasons, a bit more needs to be done to the format in order to keep people watching,\u201d Jay told The Journal.<\/p>\n Just before the final, there was a twist in which ex-contestants returned to the villa to vote for the couple they believed should be dumped.<\/p>\n Two couples were sent packing, missing out on an expected spot in the grand finale.<\/p>\n Jay believes that the show is moving further away from being solely about love and relationships.<\/p>\n \u201cEven with this year\u2019s finalists, it\u2019s hard to discern how genuine their connections are. Other years, it\u2019s much more obvious, one way or the other,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Over the years, islanders have gone on to have highly successful careers, such as Molly-Mae Hague from the 2019 series who this year made Forbes 30 under 30 list.<\/a><\/p>\n Irish islanders like\u00a0Greg O\u2019Shea and Maura Higgins<\/a> have also maintained popularity through various media projects.<\/p>\n The 2019 series which featured O\u2019Shea and Higgins remains the most watched of all time, according to ITV.\n<\/p>\n Green jersey<\/p>\n Virgin Media Television \/ YouTube<\/p>\n Jay admits that it was hard not to be invested given more Irish representation this year.<\/p>\n 25-year-old Galway GAA star Sean \u2018Fitzy\u2019 Fitzgerald was an original cast member, lasting for six weeks on the show. He coupled up with 28-year-old Lola Deal, and the two remained loyal to each other before being dumped in a\u00a0public vote as one of the least favourite couples.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Jay said that \u201cthe couples that do fall in love are punished by the show, so he didn\u2019t get much air time\u201d.<\/p>\n Despite the early exit, the pair revealed plans to move to Dublin together after the show.<\/p>\n 27-year-old Dublin influencer Charleen Murphy also made a splash, with rumours circulating online in advance of her appearance in this year\u2019s series.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Charleen, she is arguably Ireland\u2019s biggest influencer who has been extremely public about her love life. For me, I wanted to tune in to see if she could find love\u201d, Jay added.<\/p>\n Murphy finally arrived during Casa Amor, and although she managed to secure a position in the main villa, she was then dumped after nine days.<\/p>\n