Love Island’s Ope’s name sparks pronunciation debate

3 June 2026, 21:00

Here's how to pronounce Love Island's Ope's name, it's origin and what it means. Picture: ITV / Instagram

By Abbie Reynolds

Love Island 2026 star Ope Sowande's name has sparked a debate about how it's pronounced online. Here's how to pronounce it, it's origin and what it means.

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Love Island series 13 is back and in full swing, and someone already turning heads is West End performer Ope Sowande.

The 27 year old from Lincolnshire has a big personality that's caught the attention of viewers and his fellow cast members. While it might have put him at risk of being dumped by bombshell George Knight, most people find it endearing.

He introduced himself on the show as Ope, pronounced oh-pee, but many Nigerian/Yoruba speakers have come forward to claim that he's westernising his name and that's not the correct way to pronounce it.

Read more: Love Island’s George Knight has fan all saying the same thing

Ope is on Love Island 2026. Picture: ITV

How do you pronounce Love Island's Ope's name?

Ope is the only Black male on the show this year, and while he described himself as Black British, he hasn't specified his ethnicity. However, the name Ope is a common Nigerian name that usually comes from a long name like Opeyemi or Opeoluwa.

In Yoruba, Ope is a common nickname derived from the word for "thanks," "gratitude," or "praise". Opeoluwa means "Thanks to God".

Former Love Island star Deji Adeniyi, who is Nigerian took to TikTok jokingly saying: "Man like Op-ee, not Op-eh! His name is Op-ee, that's what he is, he is Op-ee."

Love Island fans have hoped Ope and Angelista would strike up a romance. Picture: ITV

One viewer, who is also Nigerian and called Immanuel, said on TikTok: "Brudda came into the villa, said, 'My name is Op-ee'. Sounds like a flipping slur, you need to lock in brother. When I tell people I'm from Cambridge, that is what they expect from me, but I'm not that way."

He added: "They need to trap that brother in south London for five years, no escape, because what has happened to that young man, young black man..."

Immanuel went on to pronounce his name in a Nigerian accent, saying it as Op-eh. Fans agreed in the comments commenting this like "OpE" and another said: "Like wdym ur name is opey, ITS OPEEEEEHHHHH"

He isn't the only person making TikToks about this, lost of other Nigerian viewers have made videos commenting it.

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While Ope does live in London now, he was brought up in Lincolnshire which is a predominately white county.

According to official data from the Lincolnshire County Council, approximately 96% of the county's resident population identifies within the "White" ethnic category. This might be why Ope goes for a more westernised pronunciation of his name.

One American viewer with the same name took to TikTok to say that many white people struggle to pronouce the 'eh' and so she has been called Op-ay for most of her life. "I've been called that for so long, I actually also enjoy my Americanised nickname," she said.

People believed that last year's Billykiss Azeez did the same thing as the name is usually spelt 'Bilikiss' and pronounced differently due to it's Arabic origins. She came out and cleared up the confusion on TikTok saying that she didn't spell it that way for the British Public or to "westernise" it, she said it is simply a "stage name".