LOVE Island fans are convinced they know why Joey Essex made the shock decision to kiss Nicole Samuel in the villa.

The former Towie star locked lips with Nicole during a game of Snog, Marry, Pie? – and he did it in full view of Ciaran Davies.

Nicole’s boyfriend Ciaran was furious with Joey for snogging his lady and even swore at him in a heated exchange once the game had finished.

Joey insisted that he only picked Nicole to ‘re-mark her’ after previously rating her as a ‘bad kisser’.

But viewers of the ITV2 show are unconvinced and believe there is more to it.

Throughout the series, wild rumours have suggested Joey is actually a “plant” who has been deliberately placed in the villa to stir up trouble.

Fans questioned how he and Grace managed to avoid a shock dumping in the early days, and why he caused havoc between Jess White and Harriett Blackmore over Ronnie Vint.

Even former islander Omar Nyame has questioned whether Joey is a ‘plant’. And when it comes to his kiss with Nicole, the theory about Joey among fans is the same.

One viewer wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Why did Joey kiss Nicole?? Joey always moves MAD lol. He has clearly reclaimed his role as a part time producer of this show.”

Another added: “Swear the producers must’ve had a word with Joey because what is this weird behaviour over the last 2 days. Kissing your mate’s girlfriend? Are u ok.”

A third chimed in: “Joey has put his producer hat back on. His actions are purely for drama, zero logic.”

And someone else agreed: “The producers deffo gave Joey an incentive to spice things up in the villa.”

Nicole and Ciaran are the only official ‘closed off’ couple in the villa, meaning Joey’s kiss has raised some serious eyebrows.

On her turn in the game, Nicole snogged Ciaran and decided to ‘pie’ Joey. But Ciaran still pulled Joey up on it later.

He attempted to speak to Joey about his shady move but struggled to get a word in.

Ciaran then suddenly expoloded: “Joey, just let me f***ing speak.

“I just think it’s weird that you’ve gone and kissed by missues, that’s it. ”

Joey is currently coupled up with Jessy Potts in the villa, although he has also been accused of ‘gaslighting’ his ex Grace Jackson.

For two days, Joey has repeatedly tried to convince Grace and the rest of the villa that she still has feelings for him – even though she has made it quite clear she hasn’t.

“Joey is the biggest gas-lighter going. Jessy should be very wary,” one fan complained online.