Love Island is one of the best reality TV shows out there, and Love Island 2024 has thankfully been no exception. We haven’t even reached the end of the series and it’s already given us romance with Nicole Samuel and Ciaran Davies, unexpected reunions from Joey Essex and half the other Islanders but most memorably Grace Jackson, and love triangles galore - usually featuring Ronnie Vint.
However, the main reason it’s so bingeable is the genuine reactions from the Islanders - we’re talking tears in almost every episode. In fact, the Islanders’ behaviours are so real that sometimes it’s hard to remember that they’re competing are on a highly-produced show. Never-the-less, the Islanders have to adhere to some strict rules and restrictions.
We sat down with one of the latest couples to be dumped from the Island, Jess White and Hugo Godfrey, to discuss all things Love Island - including those hidden rules and producer bans.
When we asked which of their fellow Islanders applied for the show rather than being scouted, the pair admitted that they didn’t know because they were forbidden to discuss the application process.
Jess said, “Whenever you start speaking about the [application] process you get the voice of God coming down being like, ‘No production and no process chat, let’s leave it at that,’ so you kind of all got told not to speak about it, but the gist of it was I don’t think many people did apply.”
While we understand the Islanders can’t discuss the show itself as it would be a bit too meta, it still seems like a pretty harsh rule.
Jess and Hugo were perhaps one of the most shocking dumpings of the series so far, especially considering Jess had been an OG Islander and had just discovered her connection with Hugo, who had only entered the Casa Amor villa ten days previously.
Although being brutally dumped from the show means losing out on that £50,000 and maybe a brand deal or two, it does mean that there’s no voice of God censoring your conversations anymore, so that’s got to be some consolation.
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Sarah O'Byrne is an editorial assistant for Bauer Media, writing for both Closer online and heatworld. She loves writing about Love Island, but will give it up the second she's scouted for the next series.