Looking good is a huge deal when you enter theLove Island villa, from making sure you've got a fresh set of nails (that will last you the duration) to packing your make-up and skincare essentials.
And that's not even mentioning clothes and shoes. The rules around clothing on the show have changed over the years - from it not really being a big deal in series one to the show landing HUGE sponsors like PrettyLittleThing and ISAWITFIRST - but the biggest change came this year when Love Island revealed that they were ditching their relationship with fast fashion and bringing in eBay as its first pre-loved fashion partner.
In the historic move, the Islanders get to choose and wear pre-worn garments to raise awareness of the damaging consequences of fast fashion, sparking a movement to embrace pre-loved clothes instead of wear it once and never again.
Mike Spencer, executive producer of Love Island, explained the rationale behind the change, saying, “We are thrilled to be pairing up with eBay this year as our pre-loved fashion partner. As a show we strive to be a more eco-friendly production with more focus on ways in which we can visibly show this on screen.
“This partnership will see our Islanders get to dive into the shared wardrobes and help themselves to some incredible pre-loved clothes sourced from eBay. We aim to inspire our demographic and show that there are incredible finds to be had and how sharing is, in some small way, caring.”
Luckily for us, former Islanders have spilled many secrets over the years - from getting scouted on Instagram and opening up about the audition process, to STI checks in the villa - and now recently dumped Islanders Charlie Radnedge and Antigoni Buxton have shared their thoughts on the momentous change to the clothing rules.
When Closer caught up with the pair to get all the juicy secrets, we were desperate to find out what they thought about eBay being the sponsor and how it all worked.
Antigoni revealed, "I loved it because it meant you weren't limited to one brand or one style, it was really open. I thought it was a great move to be using sustainable clothing. I was so happy when I found out they were the sponsor.
"The clothing we wore was donated to charity and rehomed after we wore them [the public can bid on the clothes]."
Charlie added, "It's very interesting using eBay, it's a lot more sustainable than previous sponsors so it was great in my opinion."
WATCH Antigoni and Charlie reveal the SHOCKING reason they were told off | Love Island Secrets
Even though some of the clothes that were sent to the video were pre-loved designer clothes (Luca was seen wearing Gucci), Charlie did reveal that he had a lot of his own branded clothes taken away from him.
When asked if there was anything he wanted to take into the villa that he wasn't allowed, he replied, "They confiscated a load of clothes off me. You're not allowed to wear anything that's branded."
Being more sustainable has been hugely applauded by 2021 contestant Brett Staniland - who famously turned down the offer of free clothes in the villa and protested at Molly-Mae Hague's PrettyLittleThing fashion show in London.
When the news broken earlier this year, he said, "This feels like a big step in the right direction & I’m extremely proud and happy to see this change!"
However, some fans have admitted whilst the change is positive, the contestants will probably leave the show and sign deals with fast fashion brands anyway. Remember everyone saying Lucinda Strafford only going on the show for a fashion deal? Well, she got one. In fact, Liberty Poole, Kaz Kamwi and Millie Court all signed fashion deals as soon as they were back in Blighty.
This year's contestants, including Gemma Owen, Paige Thorne and Indiyah Pollack have also been spotted wearing fast fashion brands in the villa as well as pre-owned.
One fan tweeted, "Keep seeing everyone praise Love Island for using second hand fashion on the upcoming season instead of fast fashion but like, the show is still toxic as sh*t no matter if you change where the fashion comes from."
Another noted, "Love Island supposedly 'dumping' fast fashion is hilarious bc these contestants are still going to leave the villa with ISawItFirst and BooHoo Man partnerships."
Maybe this will change the course of Love Island careers? We'll have to wait and see.
What can the Love Island cast wear in the villa?
The show worked with ISAWITFIRST in 2021 and the Islanders were often seen wearing outfits from the brand and had 'themed' party nights when they were decked out completely, but every now and then you'll spot the Islanders wearing something not on the sponsors website.
The Islanders can pack whatever clothes they wish, but any designer and branded clothes are discouraged (and if they make it in the villa the brand logo will be covered by tape whilst filming).
Love Island 2021 Casa Amor bombshell Clarisse Juliette who opened up on the amount of clothes the Islanders are allowed to take into the villa.
"I took two and a half large suitcases of clothes.
"There wasn't anything that I brought [that i couldn't wear], because at the start you're told what you can and can't bring in terms of branding, so I brought the correct items."
Interesting...
Funnily enough Liam Reardon was actually told off by producers because of some of his outfits.
When we caught up with Love Island 2021 star Brad McLelland he revealed "you're not even allowed patterned tops" inside the villa.
He then added, "I don't think [Liam] got to wear any of his new t-shirts because of the patterns."
Even when we spoke to Hugo Hammond he admitted there were some shirts he wasn't allowed to wear on the show because "they were either branded or they strobed on the cameras".
Love Island 2019 stars Jordan Hames and Danny Williams also opened up about the clothing rules inside the villa and admitted that designer clothes are banned.
But while Danny "followed the rules to the letter", his BFF Jordan broke the rules and got away with it.
"This guy walks in [Jordan], the bombshell after me, and he's wearing designer trainers, designer jeans, designer shirt and I'm like 'what's going on here'
"Every single person that came in after that was wearing designer stuff and there's me [wearing] H&M, Primark," Danny revealed.
And it turns out that the rules have definitely relaxed over the years because in an episode during the Love Island 2021 series, Liam was spotted wearing Louboutin shoes.
Check out: Love Island's most brutal dumpings EVER
Love Island's most brutal dumpings EVER - slider
1 of 7Charlie Brake and Ellie Brown
In 2018, blonde babes Charlie and Ellie were brutally dumped after a day out at the Island Beach Club, never to return to the villa. Asked how they felt about leaving, Ellie said it was 'bittersweet', while Charlie admitted he was ready to live. The pair later split after Charlie was accused of cheating.
2 of 7Rachel Fenton
In possibly the finest act of reality TV chivalry we've seen, Rykard Jenkins sensationally quit Love Island after his girl Rachel Fenton was dumped from the Island after a day out on the beach. The pair walked off into the sea together before collecting their belongings. Cute!
3 of 7Sherif Lanre
In 2019, Sherif was dramatically removed from the villa after "breaking the rules" during an incident with Molly-Mae Hague. Revealing what happened that got him booted, he revealed he accidentally kicked Molly-Mae in the groin and called it a "c--t punt". Sherif said, "I did kick Molly-Mae in the groin area, but it was an accident and she 100 per cent was not injured afterwards."She did appear to be in pain at first but then she stood up and seemed fine and we started laughing about it."
4 of 7Zara McDermott
Zara was one of 2018's bombshells, but she didn't last in the villa long despite finding love with Adam Collard. She was dumped from the villa after the boys Josh, Jack, Sam and Wes opted to give her the boot over Ellie and Megan and she sobbed when she was forced to leave Adam behind.
5 of 7Jonny Mitchell
Jonny was voted off the 2017 series when he was voted one of four least popular Islanders in a savage public vote. After the rest of the villa whittled the four names down to just two - Jonny and love interest Tyla Carr - it was Jonny who was sent packing. Cue the now infamous line "if she liked Jonny she would go home with him" line from Theo Campbell.
6 of 7Georgia Steel and Sam Bird
In 2018, 'loyal' Georgia Steel and Sam Bird were dumped from the villa when they refused to couple up with anybody apart from each other and instead chose to walk away from the villa together. Earlier on, the pair found themselves shunned by both the public and their fellow islanders earlier in the week, the two chose to split up and stay in the villa rather than go home as a couple but had a change of heart in a dramatic recoupling.
7 of 7Dom Lever
Love Island 2017 star Dom Lever (and all of us) were left SHOCKED when Jess Shears was sensationally dumped from the villa early on. However, it was his decision to stay in the villa that led their relationship to grow even stronger as he refused to get to know anyone else, even during his stay in Casa Amor. Dom was later dumped when Montana - who he was in a friendship couple with - decided to recouple with newbie Alex.
Do the Love Island cast get given clothes to wear in the villa?
Yes, they do. It has changed over the years though as the show changes sponsors.
The Love Island Season Five stunner – who famously walked out of the villa on day 37 – has exposed a MASSIVE secret about the cast’s strict clothing rules to her TikTok followers and we are gagged.
In a casual TikTok Q&A, a fan asked Amy, “Where do you get your clothes you wear on the show from??”
This is usually where we’d brace ourselves for a heavily media trained/PR-driven – sometimes evern sponsored – answer that dances around the truth so much that it requires us to sit down to stop the room from spinning. But not when our Amy is involved. She fully opens the curtains for us.
In fact, Amy Hart responded with utter JUICE.
Amy revealed that her and her Season 5 Islanders were gifted a £1,000 gift card (actually worth £2,000, according to Amy) to spend on clothes for the villa.
She said, “So, for our year we were sponsored by ISAWITFIRST. So, we all got a £1,000 gift card to use online. It was actually 50% off at the time, so we got £2,000 each. And then you could bring in two suitcases – bring in clothes from other brands.”
She then added that Islanders were then sent in little duffle bags full of clothes to their taste, on a weekly basis.
“Every week we were sent in like a little duffle bag with some more clothes in it that we’d, sort of, picked out from the gifting suite or told them, you know, ‘I like neon, I like floral’ and they would send it in.
This year, they’ve teamed up with eBay, so they’ve got in the girl’s dressing room, in the corner, there’s like a little ‘Pre-Loved’ closet with things they’ve brought from eBay second hand. The girls, and the boys, actually as well, are being encouraged wear, share and re-wear their clothes to save the planet and, you know, help and hopefully encourage other people to re-wear their clothes as well."
Love Island 2019 winner Amber Gill and her BFF Anna Vakili also opened up about getting clothes supplied in the villa.
"It was a struggle for me because they didn't provide my size... EVER," Anna explained.
"I was like 'God I'm not a size six to eight', they never used to provide my size for me.
She went on to tell Amber, "Remember, I used to have a meltdown every time?"
Over the years we've spoken to a lot of the former Love Island stars who have revealed the Love Island rules inside the villa, where the Islanders actually eat and if there's an alcohol limit.