EXCLUSIVE: LOVE ISLAND’S HARRIETT BLACKMORE EXPOSES HOW JOEY ESSEX STOLE HER BIG MOMENT

We’re just going to say it: undoubtedly one of the main characters of this year’s Love Island – before her shock dumping, that is – was Harriett Blackmore, who was involved in the drama from almost the very first moment she stepped foot in the villa after finding herself in two major love triangles.

Harriett coupled up with Ciaran Davies on day one after the Islanders ranked each other based on if they were boyfriend/girlfriend material, but he quickly found his head turning for Nicole Samuel. Then, when Harriett put an end to things to Ciaran, she walked right into another triangle with Ronnie Vint and Jess White.

Harriett basically dominated the storylines in the first couple of weeks of Love Island 2024, but things could have been very different as it turns out she was originally supposed to be the first bombshell of the series rather than OG.

Harriett spilled the scalding hot tea when she visited Closer HQ for a post-villa chinwag with Ronnie, telling us, “I got told the whole time that I was gonna be the first bombshell and then when I arrived [in Mallorca], they were like, ‘Oh, you’re going in in four days’.

“And I was like, ‘What?’ So yeah, I never knew I was starting but I’m glad I did.”

The first bombshell, of course, was Joey Essex, who entered the villa on the first night and left us all needing to pick our jaws up off the floor.

And, if you ask us, we reckon producers did have Harriett lined up to be the bombshell before TOWIE icon Joey signed up for the show and they were forced to change their plans.

Of course, this is all speculation but we’ve watched enough reality TV (and interviewed enough Islanders) in our time to make an educated guess.

But although Joey stole her big moment as the first bombshell, Harriett has admitted she’s got no complaints about being an OG.

“It was nice going in with everyone,” she said. “When you’re an OG, you form friendships that are naturally a lot closer than a lot of the others.”

WATCH Ronnie Vint has exposed the Love Island girls' GENIUS trick for getting out of the washing up and, honestly, fair play...

Nathan Katnoria is heat and Closer online’s senior digital writer. He became obsessed with Love Island when Malin Andersson came back to confront Terry Walsh in series two and hasn’t looked back since. When he’s not interviewing former Islanders, Nathan is scrolling through their Instagram feeds for relationship updates and piping hot tea.