In the villa, breakfast isn’t just the most important meal of the day — it’s the most important romantic gesture.
What started as a simple morning coffee has evolved into “Love Island’s’” most enduring tradition, where pancakes and avocado toast serve as daily declarations of interest, and the wrong breakfast order can spark villa-wide drama.
The origins of the villa breakfast tradition
This tradition didn’t appear overnight. In the early seasons of “Love Island UK,” romance was measured in much simpler terms: boys making coffee for girls in the morning was a telltale sign of interest. This small gesture of caffeination was how viewers — and fellow Islanders — could gauge who was pursuing whom.
But as the show evolved, so did the breakfast game. By Season 5 of “Love Island UK,” isolated instances of Islanders cooking full breakfasts began appearing as special gestures. The practice gradually transformed from occasional romantic surprises into something more systematic.
In Season 8 of “Love Island UK,” we saw contestants like Dami and Andrew elevating breakfast to a proper date activity, preparing elaborate morning meals for Indiyah and Tasha as intimate gestures to make them feel special.
However, it wasn’t until the recent seasons of “Love Island USA” that breakfast preparation became a daily institution. Every episode, the Islanders are awoken at the break of dawn and the boys head downstairs to whip up breakfast for the girls they are hoping to pursue. What was once a sporadic romantic gesture has become as routine as the morning wake-up call.
The daily breakfast mating ritual
The breakfast-making process has become remarkably standardized. The boys wake up early, head to the kitchen and begin their daily courtship through culinary means.
A “Love Island USA” breakfast plate typically involves avocado toast, often with eggs, sometimes pancakes, and fruit for a pop of color.
The villa’s breakfast operation is even more elaborate than it appears on screen. According to a production spokesperson, the fridge is stocked three times daily and the kitchen has all the essentials the Islanders could need — pancakes, eggs, fruit, jams, teas and juices.
The villa also burns through an impressive 12 avocados daily, about 500 per season, and at least 40 eggs per day, totaling around 1,700 eggs by finale night.
The “Love Island” breakfast ritual serves multiple purposes beyond mere sustenance. It’s a daily opportunity for the boys to demonstrate their interest, care and effort. Who receives the most elaborate plate and who gets served first all send clear signals about romantic intentions in the villa.
Serving up drama
Food has always been a powerful source of emotion and connection, and in the pressure-cooker environment of “Love Island,” breakfast can quickly become a battleground. Creating breakfast for others allows the Islanders to express their love or apologize, but it can also create tension and jealousy.
The most dramatic breakfast moments often involve perceived slights or inequitable treatment. Take the heated exchange from this season of “Love Island USA” between Huda and Jeremiah over an undercooked pancake.
Such seemingly minor breakfast mishaps can spark major drama, as Islanders interpret every detail as a reflection of care and romantic interest levels.
Unfortunately for Huda, pancake-gate didn’t end when Jeremiah left the villa. The season’s favorite breakfast item continued to haunt her romantic life, sparking another dramatic rift when she was coupled up with Chris.
One morning as the girls were getting ready for another day of sunbathing and getting pulled for chats, Chris prepared breakfast plates for both Huda and Chelley, but the distribution was, in Huda’s view, far from equal.
“You gave her two pancakes, you gave me one; you gave her a flower, you gave me none,” she lamented to Chris later that day.
For Huda, it wasn’t just about portion size — it was about perceived favoritism through the lens of food.
The breakfast tradition has also provided opportunities for Islanders to subvert villa norms. When Chelley snuck off to make breakfast for Ace this season, she flipped the typical gender roles and demonstrated that this gesture of care could flow in either direction.
Ace himself elevated the breakfast game to theatrical heights when he performed a hibachi-breakfast for Chelley, cooking directly in front of her with dramatic flair, transforming the morning meal into a romantic performance.
The ritual has also been used as a tool for territorial marking. When Nic discovered that Cierra had been receiving pancakes cut into a “C” shape by a boy pursuing her in Casa Amor, he immediately replicated the gesture upon her return.
And Nic’s breakfast possessiveness extended beyond pancakes; he was also seen taking away the coffee that another boy had brought Cierra.
It’s more than just food
While lunch and dinner are catered affairs, breakfast remains the Islanders’ domain; it’s the one meal where they control every detail from ingredient selection to preparation. This autonomy makes the morning ritual even more meaningful. When everything else is meticulously produced, breakfast is the ultimate expression of personal choice and romantic intention.
As the show continues to evolve, breakfast has become “Love Island’s” most revealing daily ritual — a microcosm of modern romance, where vulnerability is served on a plate and jealousy is measured in coffee cups.
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