Why Helena and Harry’s shotgun trip to The Hideaway means Love Island’s rediscovered its sex factor

CALL me a voyeur, but I’m a 40-year-old, married woman who is hot under the collar at the idea lust is back on Love Island.

The Sun told yesterday how two of this year’s intake enjoyed a sleepover in the private Hideaway boudoir just 56 hours after meeting.

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It’s even juicier because – officially – both blonde cabin crew Helena Ford and semi-pro footballer Harry Cooksley are coupled up with other Islanders.

Of course it helps that both are cut straight from the Barbie and Ken mould, with matching abs, glowing tans and designer locks.

So when I heard from my source that the pin-up pairing had snuck away on Monday to spend the night in the private bedroom, I was gleeful.

That’s not because I get my kicks watching twenty-somethings frolic in a Majorcan villa – honest, Mr Cross.

It’s because it was the early sign of promise that sex might just be back on Love Island after years of celibacy.

Bold choice too far

Let me lead you astray, back to 2015 when the ITV dating series first plunged a group of youngsters into a luxury villa and encouraged them to find, ahem, love.

The series’ main characters were John Lee and Hannah Elizabeth, who weren’t afraid to get down to it in the communal bedroom.

Despite Michelle and Stuart, then Makosi and Anthony engaging in a public PDA on Big Brother in 2004 and 2005 respectively, such bold antics felt entirely new to TV viewers and split the nation.

But nothing prepared the pearl clutchers for what happened a year on.

The entire cast let rip, with eight couples going all the way – usually in the shared bedroom – which was all fun and games until ITV bosses took two specific editorial decisions too far.

Beauty queen Zara Holland was stripped of her Miss GB title after having sex with Alex Bowen in the Hideaway in 2016.

The judges were said to have been particularly offended by a scene which saw her visibly enjoying the act.

Then, another late night scene showed Emma-Jane Woodham on top of Terry Walsh, above the bed covers.

It was a bold choice too far – even after the 9pm watershed – and viewers rushed to Ofcom.

That was the end of sex on Love Island as we knew it and from then on, execs took the decision to instead show a shaking bedside lamp or tangled pair of feet.

And in recent years the Instagram career-focussed cast and media trained Islanders have abstained entirely.

Abi Moores told The Sun that no one hooked up in the 2023 series until the penultimate night, when the cast are allowed to spend a night away from the cameras.

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Only TV personality Joey Essex and his girl Jessy Potts succumbed last summer – and the only clue was a wobbling champagne bucket, as they cemented their union, artfully off shot.

But this lot don’t seem to be as PR-focussed.

Last night’s episode, the third of this series, presented a lapdance, finger sucking, a string of snogs and even a three-way smooch.

Tommy and Megan, Dejon and Meg, Shakira and Blu and throuple Helena, Harry and Conor have all locked lips.

And the ep teased Helena and Harry’s saucy sleepover, with them sharing an afternoon kiss on the Hideaway’s swing and joking they would “wait five minutes after everyone’s gone to sleep then sneak in overnight.”

Frankly, it’s the green shoots of recovery the long-running series needs.

The launch drew an audience of 1.4 million across all devices, which ITV proudly reported was ITV2’s biggest show this year.

But it represented a drop on last year’s 1.6 million and was a far cry from its heyday when 6 million tuned in.

As the series celebrates its tenth anniversary, there’s still some love left for the format – all 11 series have been streamed a whopping 2billion times to date on ITVX.

This year’s up-for-it cast could prove to be the Viagra the series needs.

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The dating show genre has upped its game in recent years, with Rylan Clark’s Dating Naked asking its cast to find love entirely in the nude.

And 12 innocents even explored popping their cherries on Channel 4’s Virgin Island.

But will Helena and Harry end up regretting their private night?

Zara Holland, now 29, crown for being Love Island’s most talked-about bonker after her beauty pageant scandal in 2016.

After the series, she said: “I regret massively having sex on the show.

“If I could turn back the clock, I would.

“I know I didn’t do anything illegal, I was twenty at the time, there’s nothing to be ashamed of but yes, you know, it was the biggest regret.”

Montana Brown’s relationship with Alex Beattie only lasted a couple of weeks when they left the villa.

And Montana, now 29 and a mum of two, came to look back on their hour-long sex sessions during the 2017 series with regret.

She said: “In hindsight, having sex on TV wasn’t the best idea. My advice to the new hopefuls is not to do it.

“If I could have done it differently, I wouldn’t have had sex.

“It’s all everyone wants to speak about now.”

While some regret having sex on TV just once, Kem Cetinay’s remorse comes from the fact he had so much.

The 2017 series winner, now 29, spoke about his amorous stay in the villa with Amber Davies.

He said: “Maybe I shouldn’t have had as much sex as I did – maybe once or twice would have been enough.

“Now I’ve got a business and I’ve got staff, and if new recruits search for me, some of the first articles that come up will be about me having sex on TV.”

There’s plenty of Islanders who still love the fact they for lusty on screen.

It’s as if people wanted me to be ashamed, but I’m not going to be.

Megan Barton-Hanson

Jess Shears, now 32, romped with Dom Lever on 2017’s series and she reckons hooking up in the villa helped cement their relationship.

They are now married with two children.

She said: “I don’t regret having sex on TV as such, but it’s a bit strange that the whole nation knows about it.

“No one normally knows about your sexual relations but then at the end of the day if that worked for Dom and I, I’m glad that we did because I’m still with him now.”

Kady McDermott, now 29, also didn’t regret her on-screen sex with boyfriend Scott Thomas in the 2016 series.

The couple even stayed together for 18 months after leaving the villa.

She said: “I personally don’t regret having sex because it was with someone I was actually with and loved.”

And Megan Barton-Hanson is another who has vocally supported pursuing a physical connection on the show after hooking up with Wes Nelson in 2018.

She said: “There is still so much stigma around women even saying they enjoy sex, let alone doing it on national TV.

“When Wes and I were interviewed afterwards, I would always be asked if I regretted having sex on TV and if my parents were embarrassed. They didn’t ask Wes.

“It’s as if people wanted me to be ashamed, but I’m not going to be.”

*Love Island continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.