Bringing together fan-favorite islanders from various versions of Love Island — from Love Island: USA to Love Island: UK to Love Island: Australia and beyond — for a show unlike anything fans of the franchise have seen before, the inaugural season of Love Island Games was truly one-of-a-kind.
For those who are unfamiliar with the beloved competition series, according to Peacock, Love Island Games gives fan-favorite islanders from across the globe “a second shot at love as they compete in a brand-new format to be crowned champions of Love Island Games. In this cheeky new iteration, romance will meet reality as fan-favorite islanders are faced with both team and couples’ challenges, all while navigating dating, eliminations, recoupling, dramatic arrivals, and new competition twists and turns like never before.”
Dozens of contestants coupled up with someone from across the pond for the inaugural season of Love Island Games — such as winners Justine Ndiba and Jack Fowler, as well as Cely Vazquez and Eyal Booker, Lisa Celander and Curtis Pritchard, Kyra Green and Megan Barton-Hanson and more — and Liberty Poole of Love Island: UK and Callum Hole of Love Island: Australia were no exception.
Ever since day one in the villa, Liberty and Callum found themselves coupled up with one another, however the pair quickly realized that there was not a romantic spark between them, with Liberty pursuing her connection with islanders like Johnny Middlebrooks and Callum pursuing his connection with islanders like Kyra Green. Even after winning the iconic “Heart Rate Challenge” together, as well as spending a night in The Hideaway with one another, Liberty and Callum still did not see each other in a lovey-dovey fashion — how wild is that?
While viewers were begging for a friends to lovers story between Liberty and Callum, things went awry after Liberty’s untimely exit, which occurred after she lost a high-stakes duel to Jess Losurdo on day 13. Around the time of her departure, Callum found the spark that he had been yearning for with the one and only Deb Chubb instead, who arrived as one of six bombshells on day 12.
Coasting all the way to finale night, Deb and Callum came in third place — falling short to Justine Ndiba and Jack Fowler, as well as Aurelia Lamprecht and Johnny Middlebrooks — but they are still going strong as a duo, with Callum admitting in an exclusive interview with The Messenger that they still chat with one another frequently, even though he is in Australia and Deb is in the United States.
Nonetheless, Callum still considers himself to be a single man, which leaves fans with just one burning question — could Callum Hole pursue a relationship with Liberty Poole after all? In the same interview with Charlotte Walsh at The Messenger, the 25-year-old spilled all of the tea to fans of the franchise…
Kicking off the conversation, Callum could not help but gush about how phenomenal of a person Liberty is, sharing with a beaming smile, “She is one of the nicest girls I’ve ever met. She’s such a beautiful girl, but there’s just that no-spark there for me, that I needed.”
Admitting that the version of himself that viewers saw on season 4 of Love Island: Australia would have “still had a rip for the sake of having a rip in there,” Callum had much more respect for Liberty during Love Island Games, doing everything he could to protect her heart and “not actually f*** her over” —what a gentleman!
“I’m actually, for once, just going to be your friend, and we’re going to leave on good terms. I would never want to jeopardize our friendship just for a bit of fun. It wasn’t worth it for me,” he continued passionately.
In addition to the commentary from Callum, Liberty spoke out about the situation in an exclusive interview with PopCulture as well, revealing that “it was so nice to see” Callum find the spark that he had been yearning for with the one and only Deb Chubb, and she did not feel any jealousy about it.
“They had such a good vibe together and they had a little romantic connection going on, and although me and Cal were good mates and stuff, I did want that for him… Him and Deb had so much fun together, and yeah, it was so nice to see,” she gushed.
While neither Liberty nor Callum seem open to the idea of pursuing a relationship with one another, only time will tell what the future holds. Nonetheless, it is safe to say we will be keeping up with both the former and the latter on Instagram to see where they goe from here…
To watch both Callum Hole and Liberty Poole on Love Island Games, fans of the Love Island franchise can stream the entirety of the beloved competition series on Peacock as we anxiously await a second season.