A non-league football club is set to lose their second player in as many years to Love Island this summer.
The reality TV show will return to screens on Monday with a brand new cast looking for love, and will feature to more footballers to follow up a theme that has run since the show’s inception.
The likes of the late Mike Thalassitis, who played for Stevenage and Cambridge and former winner Finn Tapp, who featured for MK Dons, have already appeared on the show, and the villa will open its doors to two more names from the sporting world this summer.
Ayo Odukoya, 25, will be part of the cast in Majorca, ditching Isthmian North side Redbridge for a chance at love over the next few weeks.
He will be joined by Ronnie Vint, 27, of Lewes, who will follow Tyrique Hyde, who took part in the last series, from the Isthmian League Premier Division side to the show.
The 2024 Love Island cast includes two footballers, including 25-year-old Ayo Odukoya (pictured)
Ronnie Vint (pictured), 27, will also put his football commitments on hold to jet out to Majorca
Lewes, Vint’s team, jokes that ‘it’s happened again’ as they responded to the news of his inclusion on the show
Hyde, who left Lewes after the series and joined Faversham Town, came third in the show alongside Ella Thomas. The two split in April.
Love Island’s social media accounts revealed Vint’s participation in the show as they confirmed their cast on Tuesday, posting online: ‘Ronnie is sidelining his football career to focus on a new goal: score his future wife.’
The defender joined Lewes last summer from Dulwich Hamlet, where he has played for three years.
According to The Sun, he is good friends with former Sunderland and Blackburn midfielder Bradley Dack and his wife, former Love Island contestant Oliva Attwood.
Lewes posted on X, formerly Twitter: ‘It’s happened again… Good luck, Ronnie,’ accompanied by a fist-bump emoji.
Odukoya’s casting, meanwhile, was addressed by Redbridge online, with the post reading: ‘We haven’t been able to contact our striker for the past few days and we guess this sort of explains it.
‘We thought it was strange he would miss a team social yesterday!’
They also responded to a post asking if he will be fined, suggesting he would be for ‘missing a team social’, ‘missing training’, ‘missing games’ and ‘possibly various performance related fines depending on his success rate’.
The forward, who helped his side win the Essex Senior Cup last season, scored eight goals in 38 appearances during the campaign.
Love Island posted of Vint’s casting: ”Ronnie is sidelining his football career to focus on a new goal: score his future wife.’
Odukoya helped his side win the Essex Senior Cup last season, scoring eight goals in 28 games
His club, Redbridge, joked that they ‘haven’t been able to contact’ the forward ‘for the past few days’
They also suggested that he will be fined and could face punishment ‘depending on his success rate’
On signing up to Love Island, he said: ‘It seems like something to have a go at. Of course, you can’t go wrong trying to find that love again – that is something that would be amazing to find if possible.
‘I don’t really like being outside too much, I’ve been outside recently and it’s not fun outside! I do prefer to be indoors chilling with that person I can do stuff with.
‘It would be nice to have that with somebody again.’
