Jake & Liberty: Some Things Aren’t Worth Fighting For

Photo Credit: @libertypoolex

This year’s season of Love Island had plenty of stable pairings, and, for a long time the steadiest of them all was Jake Cornish and Liberty Poole. Coupled up from Day 1, the water engineer and Nando’s waitress became the first official relationship of the season just four weeks in when he asked her to be his girlfriend after a romantic dinner, making them favourites for the win from early on. Nevertheless, just four days before the final, they called it quits after a rough patch and subsequently left the show.

Their split was not entirely surprising to the audience, with the cracks in their perfect-on-paper relationship being obvious to viewers from its early stages. Jake was perceived as manipulative and a showman, in stark contrast to Liberty’s status as a beloved fan favourite. Fans of the show were hoping for their relationship to end throughout its run, with people denouncing Jake as a “snake” and professing that Liberty deserved better. It wasn’t until much later in the series that Liberty began to pick up on telltale signs that the relationship was not as ideal as she’d believed it to be, when the public voted them as the most one-sided relationship and the first couple to break up after leaving the villa, and their fellow islanders voted them as one of the least compatible couples of the show. Although the pair went back and forth trying to make things work, it was abundantly clear that something wasn’t working. 

Despite the public dislike for their relationship, when the pair finally had the conversation that initiated their split, Jake received backlash from viewers for not fighting hard enough to make things work, something that he himself has admitted to in interviews post-exit from the show. But as wonderful as Liberty is, and as genuine as their love may have been, their numerous attempts to make things work had fallen through and it was obvious to everyone that they were just not meant to be. So what in that relationship was really worth fighting for?

Sadly, this dynamic is not an uncommon one, even in the real world. We all have those friends in relationships that aren’t quite right; we’ve all seen those couples who are clinging to something that is past its expiration date. People who are genuinely in love and haven’t done anything wrong, but simply want different things, have different expectations of each other, or just really aren’t as compatible as they once were. Giving up on a relationship that isn’t working is not a failure, and letting go can sometimes be the healthiest thing for both parties. It is, as Liberty discovered, a necessary step towards self-love and long-term happiness.

No matter how much you love each other, some people are just not meant to be. And once you’ve come to that realisation, what’s the point in fighting? It’s easy to do what Jake has done, and look back on something good and think you didn’t do enough to save it. But just because something was good doesn’t mean it was right. So do yourself a favour, and stop pushing for something to succeed when deep down you know it never will. Save that energy for the ones who really deserve it. You’ll thank yourself in the long run.

by Zara Denham (Staff Love & Relationships Writer)

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