Ah Toby, a man of many talents. If the Islanders were fictional characters, then Toby’s character arc definitely has to be the best this series. He’s managed to bumble his way through the summer breaking hearts left, right and centre, all while failing to realise that his actions can have consequences. Until now. In the past week it seems that Toby has gained more awareness for the feelings of his fellow islanders than any of the boys in there have ever had. So, how does one man go from potentially being the greatest Love Island villain to date, to the new fan favourite?
A rough start in the villa
Toby’s Love Island journey began with Kaz, who was instantly popular with viewers because of her bubbly personality and cute friendship with Liberty. The pair were coupled up for the first week or so in the villa, and actually started to form a relationship with each other, getting closer and closer by the day. Just as Kaz and Toby had decided to give each other 100%, the Crime and Punishment challenge threw a teeny tiny spanner in the works. In this challenge, the girls had to choose one of the boys to lock up in a competition for sexiest police officer. During the challenge, Chloe decided to choose Toby to lock up and plant a kiss on, creating one of the most dramatic moments up to that point in the series! From there Toby’s relationship with Kaz broke down and he started getting to know Chloe more. This created mixed opinions amongst viewers, most of who had previously been rooting for Kaz and Toby. As soon as Kaz gave “Toey” a rather reluctant go-ahead, things started to move pretty fast, with Toby choosing to recouple with Chloe in that week’s recoupling.
Trouble in Paradise
Things went relatively smoothly for Toby and Chloe for a couple of weeks, until the Snog, Marry, Pie challenge. During the challenge the islanders had to snog, marry or pie the islanders of their choice. Toby was left confused when Kaz chose to pie him, smashing a pie right in his face. This led to a disagreement between them about how disrespectfully he had treated her in order to crack on with Chloe. This was a large turning point in how viewers perceived Toby, as we realised that he perhaps didn’t have the capacity to understand the damage he had caused. This paved the way for some girl boss moments from Kaz, such as flat out saying ‘no’ when Toby asked to pull her for a chat, as well as just walking away from him mid-argument.
Bombshell Betrayal
As the days went on, Toey’s connection seemed to get stronger and stronger, until new girls Abi and Georgia entered the villa. While Georgia entered with her eyes very much set on Hugo, bombshell Abi had Toby on her mind. There were split opinions of whether Toby would stray from his relationship with Chloe to test the waters with Abi. Long story short, he ditched. This plot twist in Toby and Chloe’s relationship prompted some of the series’ most iconic one-liners from Chloe, such as, “I’m not gonna let someone take me for a prick, no way”, and ‘It’s not a test for me, it’s a test for you, you’ve failed”, which are both now viral TikTok sounds. These came as Toby tried to crack on with Abi behind Chloe’s back, while failing to see that what he was doing was wrong. It was at this point in the series that many hailed Toby as potentially one of t greatest Love Island villains, competing with the likes of Adam and Terry from past series.
In the following recoupling, Toby chose to recouple with Abi, leaving Chloe vulnerable to being dumped from the island! Fortunately for Chloe, Hugo jumped in like a knight in shining armour and coupled up with her, after performing a huge speech about how she deserved way better than how Toby had treated her. This speech really riled up some of the Islanders (particularly Toby, of course), as Georgia was sent home. The recoupling left a very tense atmosphere for a few days, creating some iconic moments for Toby, who was extremely bitter when Hugo beat him in a race during the Love Island sports day.
The Casa Amor Curse
As you can imagine, Casa Amor was Toby’s absolute dream. He’d only been coupled up with Abi for two days, and then he was plonked in a new villa with six very attractive single gals. Early on, Toby seemed to get on well with Mary, who he chose to bring back to the main villa, rather than remain coupled up with Abi. This was unfortunate for Abi, given that she had slept on the sofa for the week rather than getting to know any of the other boys, and remained single, much to Toby’s surprise. This really messed with Toby’s head, as he hadn’t been expecting Abi to feel that tied to him. With this in mind, Toby continued getting to know both Mary and Abi, until he faced another obstacle – his head was still with Chloe! Having seen Chloe couple up with Dale, it seemed that Toby realised that he wasn’t over Chloe yet and didn’t enjoy seeing her crack on with other boys.
There’s no place like home
Toby’s realisation that his ‘head was with Chloe’ allowed for the producers to create the most dramatic teaser for the following night, perfectly capturing Toby’s chaotic persona. After clearing it with both Abi and Mary, Toby pulled Chloe for a chat to express his feelings for her. She made it clear that Toby would have to work to get her back, proving that he wouldn’t mug her off in the same way again, and the rest is history. Since deciding to reignite their flame, Toey has become a fan favourite couple. After Liam’s Casa Amor antics, Jake’s game playing and Faye’s explosion, Chloe and Toby seem like the couple with the most genuine connection!
I feel like once we realised that nothing Toby actually did was malicious, he became more wholesome than villainous. With his goofy phrases and mostly clueless expression, there is literally nothing to love about Toby at this point in the series. From the way he ran after the other boys in Friday’s episode, to his overall chaotic energy, Toby is sure to stay up there in the Love Island hall of fame for years to come.
