Kale Roberts returned to the Love Island Australia 2023 villa during the November 23 ep of the series, winning the heart of Tyra Johannes and that of Australia in one fell swoop.
In what felt like the beginning of a love story, Kale surprised the stunning Islander during a date, under the pretence he was a brand-new Bomb.
“In my exit interview, they asked what my biggest regret was and I said not pursuing things with Tyra from the beginning,” the 25-year-old told Chattr after his first elimination.
“It was wild at first because once I left the villa, Aidan [Knox] was probably one of my best friends in there at the time and he was happily coupled up with her as far as I knew.”
After being dumped from the Island, Kale had zero contact with the outside world, thinking about what could have been — before coming face-to-face with his ultimate crush.
“I had remembered our first date so, so vividly of how it was when we were together,” he said, adding that he had “anticipated” how the next one could go as well.
“Hearing that she was in a friendship couple sort of gave me a bit of a green light to start going in a bit.”
And go in he did, delivering possibly the most romantic moment of the season, telling Tyra he should have kissed her a long time ago.
SEE ALSO: Interview: Oop, there it is! Love Island’s Kale reveals he absolutely did not want to talk to Nakia
What happened when Kale returned to the Love Island Villa?
Upon walking back into the villa hand-in-hand with Tyra, Kale revealed to us what he saw.
“I think there were probably maybe 12 people sitting around the fire pit when I walked back through. 11 were ecstatic and one person was not too happy at my arrival.
“Even Andy [Cosgrove], Nakia’s partner was smiling and he was the first person to shake my hand and say welcome back. So that was really cool. All of the boys sort of lit up and it was awesome walking back and seeing everyone because I didn’t just lose out on a girl at the time or the experience, I got to leave the house with a bunch of people who became my best friends, so going back and seeing all of them was unreal.”
Kale reveals why he cut his hair
Possibly more shocking than his return to the series was Kale’s sexy AF new haircut. While we’re tempted to call it a “crisis haircut” (IYKYK), there’s actually another reason he shaved his locks.
According to the reality star, after his casting, Channel Nine had seen photos of his hair when it was longer.
“They wanted me to grow my hair,” he revealed. “So I grew my hair.”
He continued: “I hated it longer and I remember the night I was leaving, I think I was still mic’d up at the time and I was a bit sour. I just remember sort of speaking to anyone who could listen to me, and I was just saying, ‘Can I shave my fu–ing head? Can I shave this bucket hair off?’
“I just wanted to get rid of it. I was salty. I didn’t want the hair. I wanted to be gone. But when I was coming back, they said ‘We’re gonna let you shave your hair’.”
When asked if he felt like he’d removed some negative energy from his life, Kale said: “I definitely felt that. That’s sort of how I have my hair and how I look, in real life on the outside. I definitely felt like I was sort of walking back in 100% as myself, so that was pretty cool, too.”
Love Island Australia Season 5 episodes drop daily from Monday to Thursday at 6pm AEDT, exclusively on 9Now and airs at 8.30 pm on Nine.
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