The Love Island villa was rocked by a number of exits earlier in the week, with Scott Thomas choosing to quit the show shortly followed by bombshell Ron Hall.
On the show, Scott told his co-stars that it was "the right time" for him to leave after expressing doubts over his romance with Tina Innes, while Ron left just a day later, after struggling to find a romantic connection with anyone in the villa. Now, star Marcel Somerville has given his take on why the two Islanders left the All Stars villa - revealing that contestants can feel "pressure" to make their romances work.
Speaking in an exclusively in The Mirror's Bombshell Briefing, Marcel told hosts Lauren Morris and Niamh Kirk that he was "surprised" by Scott's exit but understood what made him leave. "He was in there from the start, big character, he's had two romances in there but when you break it down, it's a situation of sometimes you can be putting yourself into something and staying in something because you're on the show," he said.
"If you can't see that relationship doing it on the outside, maybe you staying in there and getting to the final - the pressure that comes with you being on the show so you've got to stay together outside, sometimes that can play in your head."
He added that he reckons Scott chose to leave instead of forcing a romance with Tina Innes. "If you're not feeling that connection, sometimes it's best to stop before it gets too deep and then you're dealing with the public saying, 'You should stay with her, you should do this, do that'," he said.
"If you're not fully in it, you're going to find it hard to carry it on. Maybe Scott said, 'I'm going to take myself out of this because I want to feel the connection but I'm not feeling what I need to be feeling. If Tina does meet someone new, she can still get what she's looking for out of it.' You've got to do what you've got to do."
As for why Ron may have left, Marcel said that he struggled to find someone to pair up with. "When Ron came in as a bombshell, his energy that he brought into the group - he's such a good guy, he's easy to get along with, he has his strong points of view at times but he's actually a really nice, warm guy.
"He didn't get paired up with anyone who really liked him. Harriett dropped him out for Ronnie, he was with Kaz for a bit, but she wanted Montel. Then he was trying to crack on with Danielle, then Danielle chose Curtis. When you go through a journey like that, sometimes you want to know there's somebody who wants you."
Marcel was dumped from the villa after 10 days with Olivia Hawkins, who he was romantically linked to on the show - however, the pair called it quits shortly after leaving. "People are expecting and hoping it's going to turn into something more but when you get back to reality - I've obviously got a lot of stuff going on, she's got a lot of stuff going on," he told The Mirror's Bombshell Briefing. "There was pressure to try and make something work but we both said, 'Let's not put pressure on our situation. Let's just be friends.' Because we are really good friends, we've got a really good bond."
The Mirror's Bombshell Briefing with Marcel Somerville arrives weekly on The Mirror.Love Island returns tonight at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
