Love Island viewers have been left distracted by what they describe as a 'cringe' background detail on the ITV2 show. The programme, now in its seventh week, is backed by numerous major brands that fill the villa with everything from beauty products to beverages. This year, the traditional morning coffee ceremony has faced heightened scrutiny following fan favourite Lorenzo Alessi's reluctance to prepare one for his partner.
Lorenzo's Coffee Promise Revealed
As devoted viewers know, the lads typically brew a morning coffee for the girl they're keenest on or paired with, delivering it to them in the dressing room. Yet Lorenzo had defied convention until recently, declining his partner Julia Majchrzak's coffee request due to a 'promise' he had made to himself. It has now come to light that this vow was actually to his mum, who featured on Love Island's sister show, Aftersun, to explain her son's peculiar rule.
'He's been watching this since he was a kid with me; it's my favourite programme, I watch it every year. And he's always been like, 'I've never ever seen a girl make a coffee for a guy,'' she recalled. The Alessi matriarch added: 'To wind me up he said, 'I promise you, I'm not going to make anyone a coffee'. He said it the other day: 'I made a promise' - that promise was to me.'
Viewers Spot Blatant Product Placement
While Lorenzo has finally relented and served Julia her coffee, viewers have picked up on the fact that the product placement this year has been particularly blatant. Friday night's episode (July 10) was especially rife with lingering shots of Nescafe products, a detail that didn't escape the attention of fans.
One viewer commented: 'The Nescafe product placement is sending me. The camera pan across the bottles, the labels all facing forward, the focus on everyone making and drinking their ice coffees.' Another chimed in: 'The Nescafe advertising is so cringe!' while a third quipped: 'I thought the ads break was finished, why am I seeing Nescafe getting glam shots?'
Meanwhile, a fourth joked: 'The only time Lorenzo makes a girl coffee being when the producers force him to for the Nescafe sponsorship deal,' a theory echoed by another reality fan who said: 'I am convinced Lorenzo only made Julia a coffee because they had to do a Nescafe advert.'
'The obvious Nescafe product placement is killing me so bad,' added another viewer. 'Nescafe paid more than Solero to feature tonight then,' joked a seventh fan.
Love Island airs Sundays to Fridays at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
