HE is best known for quitting the villa for love after a shock betrayal on series two.
Rykard Jenkins was on the second series – the one that saw Love Island really take off – in 2016.
Rykard Jenkins has reflected on the positives and negatives of going back into the villa
Kady McDermott is set to return to Love Island for a second stint
He’s now lifted the lid on his reaction to his former co-star Kady McDermott making a surprise return to the show seven years on.
Despite predicting “entertaining” Kady will be a hit on-screen, Rykard doesn’t believe there’s anyone in there who will measure up to her.
She last dated Scott Thomas in the Love Island villa back in 2015.
Rykard told HOAR: “The show is moving in the right direction by bringing favourites back. The public has been wanting this for years.
“Her arrival will be good however, I don’t think she will genuinely bounce off anyone unless they bring in a veteran islander from a different country so they are on same level.
“Kady will be more mature and aware, but entertaining as ever! I can’t wait to watch her.”
Rykard – a personal trainer turned aesthetic practitioner, a role that offers treatments such as Botox and microblading without being a doctor or nurse – fell for nurse Rachel Fenton the moment she entered the villa as a bombshell contestant.
But he shocked viewers when he secretly slept with Olivia Buckland while Rachel was in the bed next to them.
He became the first Islander to quit for love, following Rachel when she was voted out of the villa a week after they met.
Fans went wild for the couple, but they split 18 months later.
Reflecting on his series, Rykard said: “My year had the most sex of any of the series – everyone was at it.
“We had Emma-Jane Woodhams on top of the covers with Terry Walsh.
“Former Miss GB Zara Holland with Alex Bowen in the Hideaway.
“Terry again and Malin Andersson in front of everyone. All of us at the same time one night.
“And I even sneakily slept with Olivia Bowen (then Buckland) while Rachel was in the bed next to me, but Love Island is nowhere near as brazen now.
“As much as the show has grown as a commercial success, it’s also lost its naughty, tongue-in-cheek behaviour.
“The more sponsorships from massive companies it gets, the more safe it’s become – and they tend to avoid showing sex as a result.
“I was watching one of the newer series with my mate, and he said, “Gosh, this is boring – when’s all the cracking-on and shagging happening?”
The cracking-on is what you want to watch, but now the Islanders just seem to all be having chats in the same place.
“It’s so boring and you think, ‘If I see one more chat on that balcony, I’m actually going to jump off the balcony’.”
Rykard with his ex Rachel Fenton
Kady with her Love Island ex Scott Thomas
