Curtis Pritchard is one of the most beguiling men to have ever stepped a ballroom dancing foot into the Love Island villa. This much is true. And yet, against all odds, he’s the best lad in the villa by miles and should have won the whole thing. Coming third last night was a travesty, really – but how did we get here? How did a laughing stock go from the butt of the joke to … well, still the butt of the joke, but in an endearing way. Curtis Pritchard is the real winner of Love Island All Stars in my mind – as he journeyed from cringe arrival nobody expected anyone to be a heartthrob into finalist. My king.
The thing with Curtis Pritchard is he just can’t help be himself. At first, this is jarring. It throws us off. Curtis Pritchard is unlike any other man who has ever been on Love Island. He’s a professional dancer, and can’t help but dive right into giving us when marimba rhythm starts to play vibes any time he gets the chance. He’s a bit camp. He’s a bit corny. He’s got a smile that airs on the cusp of manic. And yet, he always manages to get with some of the most desirable divas to ever go on this show. The Pritchard power is lowkey unmatched.
Curtis and Ekin finishing third #LoveIsland #LoveIslandAllStars pic.twitter.com/5fnA0trygi
— Brad Newstead (@bradynewstead) February 17, 2025
His appearance in his original series gave us infinite laughs with the fact he wants to be the one who gets up and makes everyone a coffee to make sure they’re ready for the morning. We also got treated to the endlessly replayable “heart rate challenge” performance where he came out giving us Brazil carnival. It’s stuff of legend.
Curtis lore went even more feral after the show thanks to a world changing appearance on Hollyoaks with his brother AJ. The entire “how’s Trish” saga is one that I genuinely can’t imagine life before. Every line from it is iconic and does rotation in my daily turns of phrase. Despite the ridicule, “how’s Trish” has actually veered for me into so bad it’s good territory. It’s like the British equivalent to Tommy Wiseau’s The Room.
i can’t stop watching this i am so obsessed with catherine literally fearing for her life seeing curtis coming towards her #loveisland #loveislandallstars https://t.co/QNbIGhMl5g
— Ruby Naldrett (@rubynaldrett) February 3, 2025
Because of all this, the response to Curtis Pritchard from those less tuned in to the magnetism of his bizarre ways was mixed. I too thought how on earth is Curtis Pritchard going to get the Love Island All Stars girlies to fancy him when he’s known for being a bit of a daft – and yet he emerges as the real winner bagging Ekin-bloody-Su. No mean feat.
But what Curtis Pritchard did on Love Island All Stars is prove to everyone that whilst he is that funny, goofy dancing guy he’s actually really sweet and a breath of fresh air in a villa swamped with Caseys and Lucas. He’s got an irresistible charm that catapults me back to the cursed days where I did a drama degree and enjoyed musical theatre. He’s nostalgic and, for lack of a better word, really really nice.
A victory for Curtis would have been the redemption arc coming to a lovely conclusion, but he’s already won in my eyes.
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