Is Love Island real? André Furtado and Charlotte Sumner speak out on ‘scripted’ scenes

Former Islanders have spilled the tea

Charlotte Sumner and Andre Furtado love island 2023

by Eden-Olivia Lord |
Updated on

The new series of Love Island is serving all the drama and, obviously, we are here for it.

Two people who experienced the chaos of the Love Island 2023 villa first hand are recently dumped Islanders André Furtado and Charlotte Sumner.

After being voted out by their fellow Islanders (awkward AF), André and Charlotte opened up to Closer about their time on Love Island and confirmed just how scripted the show really is - or isn't, as the case may be.

When asked what surprised them about the show, André confessed, "One thing that really really surprised me about being in the villa is definitely how intense things are. A lot of people were judging Shaq and Tanya [from winter Love Island] for saying 'I love you' a couple of weeks into the show but feelings are so intense there."

He continued, "It's very intense and I was never expecting it to be so intense but it was a good type of intense."

We THINK he found it intense.

Charlotte went on to add, "When I used to watch the show, I used to have loads of questions like, 'Surely some things must be scripted?' or things like that but it's literally not.

"Because it is so intense when you watch it you're like, 'Surely this is scripted', then once you go in there you're like, 'Okay, it's not scripted'."

One ex-Islander who didn't hold back once he left the show last year was Love Island 2022 heartthrob, Jay Younger.

Chatting on an episode of The Big Jim Show, Jay spilled the tea about how "scripted" some elements of the show truly are and we are obsessed.

During his season, Jay arrived at the villa as a bombshell and admitted that bombshells are told what to say when they first come in.

"We’ve been told our lines, so I’m going to say, ‘Sorry I’m late to the party," he confessed before continuing, "There’s certain things in there that are scripted."

Does this mean when Chris Hughes offered to "rap a little to lift the mood" he was actually told to do so? Say it ain't so.

jay claims you are told what to say

Over the years there's been so much drama we're pretty sure a lot of people have often asked themselves, "Is Love Island even real?"

Remember when Tom Walker joked about Maura Higgins being "all mouth" but she walked in on him at just the right time? Or when Maura revealed she fancied Curtis Pritchard but her confession seemingly came from the middle of nowhere?

And we simply can't forget the time Jack Fincham's ex-girlfriend entered the villa and it left Dani Dyer in a flood of tears? (Plus it resulted in thousands of Ofcom complaints).

love island dani dyer
dani broke down in tears on the show ©ITV

The Scotsman honestly spilled so much tea we're expecting ITV to have future contestants sign a tighter non-disclosure agreement, especially as he went on to discuss the producers and how much they involve themselves in the Islanders love lives.

As a bombshell, the girls were, of course, encouraged to talk to Jay and he admitted that it was strange, "I wasn’t expecting a voice to tell girls to come speak to me."

The producer chat continued as Jay divulged the "experiment" like element of the show.

"They get you to do things. They’re very good at emotional manipulation – not saying that in a bad way.”

To be quite honest, Jay, it doesn't sound particularly GOOD and the personal trainer didn't stop with the revelations there as he went on to say, “When you’re in, it’s a hunting ground for a minute – and then, produced. That’s when it becomes an experiment.”

If you think this just got real dark, real quick it seems Jay is in agreement as he added, “It’s like George Orwell 1984 Big Brother.”

Comparing Love Island to a dystopian sci-fi novel might just be one of our favourite things an ex-Islander has ever done.

There are constantly rumours floating around about what is genuine and what isn't quite the real deal when it comes to the reality romance show and a lot of contestants have admitted that they were actually approached for the show on Instagram, rather than originally applying on the website.

Over the years we've spoke to a lot of Islanders who have spilled their Love Island Secrets, and Zara Holland, who took part in the 2016 series, said, "[Producers] would create scenes by asking a group of us to go and sit down in a specific place and have a conversation about a specific thing.

"It did sometimes feel very controlled."

love island zara holland
zara spoke out about her time on the show ©ITV

Fellow Islander Scott Thomas - brother of actors Adam and Ryan - has also explained, "If you had a good chat with someone in the villa, the producers would sometimes ask for you to have it again so they could film it properly or from a different angle."

Love Island 2020 star Leanne Amaning claimed that she had to film her split from Mike Boateng three times following allegations that their first break-up was "not good enough".

love island leanne amaning mike boateng
leanne and mike during love island 2020 ©ITV

And back in 2019, during an exclusively chat with Molly-Mae Hague she opened up about 'betraying' Tommy Fury in the villa and admitted that it actually happened after one of the producers asked her to tell Anna Vakili about Anton Danyluk giving his number to the shop assistant.

Yewande Biala also revealed that sometimes the producers would "egg you on" during a situation in the villa.

Her 2019 co-stars Danny Williams and Jourdan Riane also explained that sometimes producers would get involved to help them articulate themselves in the villa.

However Eyal Booker, who appeared on the show in 2018, has said that he only saw the producers during the challenges.

"[It was only] when we needed to know what was going on and what we were doing.

"We also saw them during dates, when we left the villa and there was a camera crew and chaperones there."

Love Island 2019 star Paul Knops, who dated Laura Anderson, has also told us that the show is not "scripted at all".

"It's all from the heart," he added.

In the past Love Island bosses have denied any 'fake' claims and in a statement they explained, "Love Island is not scripted.

"As anyone who watches the show regularly would know, Love Island is a combination of reality and produced elements that are reflective of what's happening in the villa, and is a fair and accurate representation of villa life."

They went on to tell The Sun, "We have always been completely transparent about this and the way the show is produced.

"This is often acknowledged in the voice over by Iain Stirling. It is absolutely untrue to suggest that Love Island is fake. The opinions they have and the relationships formed are completely within the control of the Islanders themselves.

"As we have said since series one, Love Island is a combination of reality and produced elements."

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