Ovie Soko took his ‘Love Island’ catchphrase from ‘Don’t Be A Menace’.
The 28-year-old professional basketball player delighted viewers with his call of "message" to signal a text had arrived, and he admitted he was inspired by 1996 comedy ‘Don’t Be A Menace’, which was written by – and starred – brothers Shawn and Marlon Mayans.
Appearing on ITV’s ‘This Morning’, he said: "It actually came from a movie that I watched when I was a big younger, ‘Don’t Be A Menace’… It’s just funny, and it popped into my head.
"Yeah, it’s wild that it caught on. When I first said it a couple of the islanders were like, ‘No, that’s not the thing, you’re not supposed to say that.’ "
The reality star also caught the attention of fans when he put his hat in the freezer to keep it cold, and he insisted the move "just made sense" in the moment.
He explained: "I mean, it just made sense. We’re in the heat, you need to keep your head protected, cool head, pop your hat in the freezer.
"And it was just convenient – if you have hats all around the villa you never have to run back to the bedroom every time. There was always one within arms reach."
Ovie came third on the ITV2 dating series with partner India Reynolds, and while things are going well for the pair he admitted it was too soon to say whether their romance is really "love".
He added: "I can’t say love, I think love is a thing that takes time to develop. We’re in a good place, but we’re just gonna put one foot in front of the other. We’ve spent quite a lot of time together. She’s back in Reading now handling some stuff, but we’ve been enjoying it. Taking it in our stride!"
Ovie Soko reveals inspiration for Love Island catchphrase
