“Life is a rollercoaster”. Inevitably, this is the catchphrase with which Jack Keating — son of Ronan and dead ringer for the Milkybar Kid if the Milkybar Kid had not been allowed outdoors in direct sunlight until he was 21 — said farewell to Love Island after a very short week at Casa Amor
The immortal-ish zinger — taken from his dad’s July 2000 hit of the same name — was uttered by Ekin-Su, as Jack went off to pack his bags. But for Keating, 23, the rollercoaster went in just one direction: down, down, down.
He’d struggled to make in impact since parachuting in as part of Casa Amor, those twin-headed villas of temptation to which coupled-up contestants are exiled so that their romantic commitment is put to the test.
Irish hopes now rest with Dami Hope, the Dublin microbiologist who has been throwing up sparks with both potential love interests and other blokes
The Casa rules are that the boys spend several days with a new bunch of girls. And the girls vice versa, rubbing shoulders with a fresh crop of singletons that included Jack.
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You win Casa Amor by persuading one of the islanders to leave their pre-existing romantic pairing and snuggle up with you instead. Alas, poor Jack’s attempt as seduction were about as definitive as his dad’s stab at Fairytale of New York.
He didn’t pair off — and had his work cut out even catching the eye of the producers, with his screen time kept to a minimum. And so, when he left along with the rest of the unsuccessful Casa Amor-denizens this week, it was with neither a bang nor a whimper. One minute he was there, the next he was off to his old life working in social media and marketing.
[ Love Island: The fall of Dami the Dubliner, from favourite to one of the ladsOpens in new window ]
Keating had been eager to make a splash. Alas the moment he arrived in the villa, it dawned on him he had potentially bitten off more than he could get his mouth around, as he admitted in an ITV “exit interview”.
“Just before I walked in, I felt fine but as soon as we sat down and started chatting to everybody I was like, ‘oh my days — I can’t believe I’m here,” he said.
He did his best to project that familiar Love Island swagger. And yet, unlike his dad he seemed burdened with a degree of self-awareness — as if, deep down, he couldn’t quite believe that he’d signed up for such a circus.
Irish hopes now rest with Dami Hope, the Dublin microbiologist who has been throwing up sparks with both potential love interests and other blokes. He had a heated disagreement during the week with Italian islander Luca when Luca tried to persuade him to stay in bed with newcomer Summer. “Yeah, stop egging other people on man,” fumed Dami. “What’s wrong with you? Just be real for once.”
[ Love Island: Jack Keating needs a better gimmick than being Ronan’s sonOpens in new window ]
In the end Dami choose to move on to Summer and split from previous partner Indiyah. “Summer is not over, it has just started,” he quipped. Which is a bit of a groaner while also having the ring of a classic Boyzone power-ballad lyric (Can you hear Ronan Keating singing it? I can: “Summ-er is not ov-eeer/ “it has juuust started…”).
Dami has, for his troubles, experienced abuse on social media — to the point where his family have had to disable comments on his Instagram account. It is a reminder of how tragically over-invested some people can become in a Virgin Media One reality series.
There’s a lesson here, too, for Jack Keating. He may feel a loser leaving the villa. The truth is that, in getting out with dignity intact, he’s probably one of the lucky ones.
