Love Island's Scott van-der-Sluis defends fourth show appearance after All Stars backlash

"This is always where it was going to end," he told his fans.

16 January 2026, 12:22 | Updated: 16 January 2026, 13:47

Love Island season 10's Scott van-der-Sluis has defended his return to the show as a bombshell on All Stars.

Love Island All Stars kicked off with a bang on Thursday night (15th Jan). After delays to the launch, the cast came ready with the drama, tea and shocking revelations.

However, the most shocking reveal of the night had to be season 10's Scott van-der-Sluis arriving as the first bombshell of the season. As he stepped into the villa, Whitney Adebayo screamed, "SCOTTISHA", and the trajectory of the season was changed for good.

Within mere minutes, Scott was already gunning for season 11's Sean Stone, calling him "one of the worst islanders" he'd ever seen.

After appearing on Love Island, Love Island USA and Love Island Games this is Scott's fourth time in a Love Island villa, and he pre-empted backlash for this already.

• Read more: Love Island All Stars 2026 ages: How old are the cast and who is the oldest?

While his entrance into the villa was being unveiled on ITV2 and ITVX, Scott had a pre-recorded TikTok go out, addressing his return to the dating franchise.

In the video he said: "I am currently in Amsterdam and I am about to head to South Africa, the home of Rugby World cup champions Bafana. Bafana, the rainbow nation, all of that. My first time in Africa can't wait - but I think you all know why I'm heading to South Africa."

Preempting backlash, he added: "And I know what's coming, 'Scott again, fourth, fifth time,' whatever. It's not the fourth, fifth time. It's the only time I've done all All Stars.

"In fact, it was the only thing I hadn't done, so it would have been pretty rude to do an original Love island season, go over to America and then come back and not finish it off here. This is always where it was going to end."

Scott Van-Der-Sluis says it will 'end' with Love Island: All Stars

He said that people who suggest he's got an "in" with the ITV producers are wrong, because this is only the second time he's worked with them, saying Love Island Games and the USA series "is a completely different, completely separate thing".

On his intentions for Love Island All Stars 2026, he said: "It's where I'm going to finish the job. It's where I'm going to finish this chapter in my life. Who knows, maybe find someone, hopefully find someone to be fair I'm about that age now."

"And yeah, the final chapter. The final time," he said, suggesting he has no plans to return for a fifth Love Island journey if this doesn't work out.

Of all his Love Island experiences, his shortest appearance was on Love Island Games. He entered the show on day 12 and was dumped from the villa three days later.

He became a Love Island icon on his original season where his savage one liners had fans obsessed. He famously told Mitch Taylor: "Has anyone ever told you, you sound like a f------ k------?"

So far, on All Stars, he's already dropped a savage line, telling sweetshop owner Sean that on his season, "You were that far up Joey's arse you were naming his organs after candy."

After arriving as a bombshell, Scott had to choose which couples he thought were 'No Good'. He chose Sean and Belle Hassan, and Shaq Muhammad and Leanne Amaning, meaning they were immediately separated.

Then the boys were told by host Maya Jama that they weren't staying in the villa that night, ending the episode on a major cliffhanger.

Read more about Love Island here:

• Love Island All Stars first look teases Scott's threeway kiss with Belle and Leanne
• What happened between Love Island's Tommy Bradley and Lucy Quinn?
• What time is Love Island All Stars on tonight? Start and run time for 2026 episodes
• Love Island All Stars Helena and Charlie's surprising shared history explained

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