Love Island villa 'rattled' when Turkish actress Ekin-Su enters as Season 8 bombshell

Middle Eastern viewers of Love Island hailed producers for introducing a contestant of Turkish descent in the latest episode of season eight.

Ekin-Su Culculoglu, 27, is of two "bombshells" who arrived at the villa to take part in the competition on Thursday evening, alongside Afia Tonkmor, 25.

Based in both London and Istanbul, Culculoglu is an actress who has appeared in Turkish soap operas.

On her initial date, she grabbed the attention of 22-year-old student Liam Llewellyn when she admitted to playing "really weird characters".

"I’ve played a serial killer," she went on to say.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu (@ekinsuofficial)

After her date with Liam, she gathered the rest of the girls in the villa and warned them that she will steal their men if she sees fit.

"I’m not here to make seasonal girlfriends. I’m here to make the love of my life", she said.

In the same episode, she began cooking for the male villa members and worked out with them in what many viewers saw as attempts to bond with them.

Turkish and other Middle Eastern fans expressed excitement that they are being represented on the hit reality show.

"Ekin-Su is actually beautiful, love a Turkish representation", said one fan.

"My Turkish princess ekin-su giving us all the drama we’ve been begging for #loveisland", another Turkish fan tweeted.

Another fan urged her to "bring in that Turkish drama pls", in reference to the notoriously dramatic plots found in Turkish series.

Former cast members of the show said she is bringing enough "drama" to the show to keep it interesting.

"Ekin-Su is not a bombshell, she’s a weapon of mass destruction at this point because all I see is carnage. I love her", tweeted former contestant from Season 6, Shaughna Phillips.

Naw, the producers defo sent Ekin-Su in that villa to create chaos, just like they did with Maura 🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/76uvHbRdfN

— Mitches. (@MichMitches) June 9, 2022

"Whoever found Ekin-Su needs a pay rise this is riveting tv", said season seven contestant Chloe Burrows.

Love Island, a reality TV show aired yearly in the UK, revolves around single contestants who enter the villa to find love. The winning couple wins £50,000.

Bombshells are contestants not of the original cast that are planted at different stages of the show and often disrupt newly-formed couples.

The show has in the past been condemned for the lack of representation of ethnic minorities and the treatment of non-white cast members, especially Black women.