Love Island: former Islanders reveal how they ACTUALLY got on the show

Surprisingly our favourite ever Love Island contestant Ovie wasn't scouted or approached - he applied himself.He said on This Morning: "I went in because of my big brother, funnily enough. "Because I'm always sort of travelling and stuff because of basketball, I'm only ever really around in the summer times. I came back and Love Island always seems to be the big deal and he was like, 'Man, you'd be great on that show if you went on there' and I didn't think anything of it. "I ended up applying when I had some downtime and yeah, now I'm sort of here."

Anton was one of the six 2019 contestants who actually applied for the show.He told us: "I went through the whole application process. I did the first one-minute video and from there I met producers, then I had a medical and then I met the executive producers and then I was ready to go."

Casa Amor bombshell Belle revealed it was her famous dad Tamer Hassan who helped get her on the show."I had a conversation with my dad and he asked me if I wanted to do the show."I didn't really think much of it and before I knew it one of his friends [got me in contact] with someone at ITV and then I did the audition and started the application process," she told us.

Amy was another star who actually applied for the show but she confessed her little brother was reluctant for her to go on the reality show."We're quite a close family and my little brother wasn't happy with me to start with because of all the trolling and his friends having to watch me on TV."But by the time I went on there everyone was really supportive. I was actually really lucky - I found out six weeks before I went [in the villa]."

Despite only 6 of the 36 Love Island 2019 stars actually applying for the show, sandwich maker Joe Garrett has confessed he was one of them.Speaking to Closer Online, he recalled: "I sent a video in and had like 3/4 interviews. I had medicals and stuff like that. It's a proper rigorous process."

Despite being booted out the villa it seems Love Island bosses were keen to get Sherif on the show because they actually approached him.He revealed to Closer magazine: "I was scouted no more than three weeks ago, I literally [had] no time to think about it. I went straight into the shoots, straight into filming."I was working close to the ITV studio, I was going to get lunch and I just turned round and one of the execs was like, 'Hi, have you heard of Love Island?'"There was so much racing through my head. He asked for my details. I walked back to eat my food and had someone texting me, asking, 'Can you come in to do some initial filming?'"Fast forward three weeks, and here I am."Interesting.

Love Island 2018 star Paul Knops has confessed that it was one of his friends who got him on the show."Initially I was approached by a friends who was going on another show and they put me forward to go on that show. So I went in and spoke to the producers for that and then they said they will keep me in mind for Love Island."I was away on holiday and they gave me a call and they said 'Can you come on the show, we need you to leave tomorrow' and it was for Casa Amor," he told Closer Online.He went on to say: "I said 'no it wasn't the right time for me' and then over the course of the next two weeks I had a few messages for them and I just decided I'd give it a go."

Love Island 2017 winner Kem Cetinay actually got scouted on Instagram. He explained: "I had a barber Instagram where I did my tutorials and it was quite big, it was doing really well. Then they messaged me off that randomly and was like do you want to come in. "I still went through the whole process; I did the audition, questionnaires and some of the video camera shots."

Chris Hughes got on the show by simply applying on the ITV website: "I was one of the very few – I remember talking to some of the producers and executives after the show – who did the whole thing. "I signed up online, went through all the stages, did the questionnaires. I did the standard protocol, I was never approached."

Kendall Rae Knight followed in the footsteps as Chris and went online to get on the show."I applied just through the ITV website. I was just normal; I worked at a shoe shop no one approached me and I didn't have an agent. I went through all the stages," she told us at the NTAs.

Sam Bird was actually set to go on another show, luckily things didn't work out and he went on Love Island instead. He revealed at the NTAs: "I got approached for a different show - Survival of the Fittest - and I was meant to go on that but it didn't happen."The producers [who work on both the shows] said try Love Island instead. I said 'alright' and then I auditioned, so I kind of got approached."

Megan Barton Hanson was already popular on Instagram and that grabbed the producers attention. She admitted: "I never had an agent but I had an Instagram and I had quite a few followers on it so I just got picked up that way. "I was really hesitant at first because obviously Instagram is your filtered, photoshopped best version of yourself and I was like 'I'm happy to share that but do I actually want to go on national TV with everyone seeing me with no makeup on?' but I'm glad I did it."

Samira's admitted that she was actually meant to go on Love Island back in 2017."I was meant to go on last year as a bombshell and it just didn't work out."Then I got Dreamgirls and one of the producers watched it and I was just chatting to him and then I went in [to audition] a couple of times and then got on Love Island."

Alexandra was kind of a someone - she's appeared in Giggs' music video and was a makeup artist - before her Love Island stint and that helped her get on the show."I got an interview through my current agent but I knew him prior to going on the show - from being a makeup artist. So he put me forward for the show."

We're sensing a theme here because Eyal Booker is another star who got on the show through Instagram."I got approached through Instagram but then I had to audition for it. It kind of happened a few years in a row but I just kept umming and ahhing and then [2018] just felt like the right time."

If you cast your mind back to the summer of 2018, you may remember that the World Cup was on. And it must have been torture for a big fan like Josh, then a SPORTbible presenter, to go without knowing the scores.Or maybe not."One of the runners was like a big football fan," Josh revealed, speaking on the Prevayl: Better Begins Here podcast."So sometimes we'd go and get a drink in the evening. The runner would pop his head around and he'd show me a highlight of like something. So, I found out (football updates) at that point, but he wasn't there all the time."

Connagh has confessed that the one weird thing he found about the villa was when he discovered that while eating dinner the boys and girls are separated.

Eve has confessed that one thing viewers might not be aware of is that they're filming late into the night."Sometimes we would go to bed and it would be getting light outside, the birds would start, so it was late nights sometimes," she told Closer."Although that's me guessing, because we didn't know the time. Sometimes we would get lie ins if we were up quite late, but usually we'd get up quite early."

Danny revealed that producers call them to the beach hut by talking over speakers that are placed all around the villa."There's a tannoy. There's speakers everywhere and production will speak over the tannoy."

Jourdan spoke about what the Islanders get up to on their Love Island phones inside the villa and honestly, it doesn't sound like a lot."The only thing on our phones is the gallery and a camera to take pictures with and you can message each other within the villa."But everything you message - production can see anyway."She added: "Every other setting on the phone is completely locked."

They might look like they're living their best lives in their bikinis but they're actually not. Kendall Rae Knight from Love Island series four confessed, "The first week it might have looked really warm but it was freezing.""For the whole first week all I wanted to do was put jackets and hoodies on." Although she did go on to add, "When the sun came out it was quite nice."

According to Islander Sam Bird, viewers don't get to see all the couples in the hideaway."You don't really see every single person in there because there's 24 hours in the day there's not enough time. When there's like 20 people in the villa they've got to go somewhere."He added, "Everyone says that there's hidden doors but there isn't."

Bombshell Megan Barton Hanson admitted that the audition process is "really fun", she explained, "The producers were really lovely and I think you just have to be honest, open and tell them exactly what you want. "I was so honest about the nightmare dates I had and how scatty and clumsy I am and I think they love it. You can't put on an act they're going to see through it so just be yourself."

Eyal Booker also revealed what happens during the Love Island auditions."You're sat in a room with 50 other guys filling out a form and they take you in one by one. Then it's just call back after call back, meeting with this person and that person, filming you filming you filming you and then all of a sudden they're like you're going on the show tomorrow."Well, that's a slight exaggeration because he actually found out he was going on the show "two to three weeks" before it started. He had to keep top secret about his role on the show too, "We weren't allowed to tell anyone in case it got out in the press so I told my closest friends."Eyal also spoke out and admitted he barely had any interaction with the producers during his time in the villa. He told Closer magazine, "The only time we saw producers was during challenges, 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."

Zara McDermott revealed the real reason you don't often see the contestants in the pool and it's actually to do with their microphones. "It's amazing in there but because you're in the pool you can't have a mic on. So usually if [you] were going to get in quite a lot of people get in together.""You're not allowed to really talk or have any conversations if you don't have a mic on."She added, "So obviously if you're going to have a chat you're encouraged to get out and then that's when they'd film."

Scott Thomas told Closer magazine that during his series - in 2016 - the contestants actually left the villa and it wasn't show on TV."Every two weeks, we had a beach day, where the producers would take the girls and the boys separately to spend a day on the beach to relax away from the cameras and switch off.""When you've been in one house for such a long time, I think it's healthy to get out so you don't get cabin fever! Other than that, you're under villa arrest."He also went on to reveal that sometimes the producers would give the contestants "pep talks". He admitted, "They would egg you on or encourage you to go after the girl you liked – they'd kind of give you a confidence boost." "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."

It's safe to say that Theo Campbell was an outspoken contestant during his time in the villa in 2017 and it seems that the producers may have had a little to do with that."You know if you're liked. The producers told me I was doing well, and encouraged me to keep going."He even admitted that when Chris Hughes and Olivia Attwood split in the villa, the producers "banned them from speaking" before claiming they were told "they needed to do a big reunion scene, otherwise no contact".

Montana Brown found out two months before going on the villa that she was going to be a Love Island 2017 contestant and decided to get into a fitness regime. "I went on a health and fitness kick. I'd start the day with fasted cardio, which is spinning or running for an hour before eating breakfast. "I'd do hill sprints, too. In the evening, I'd do 90 minutes of weight training. I was also doing around 50 squats a day to get a peachy bum."

It sounds like things have definitely changed since series 2 back in 2016 as according to Zara Holland, two producers lived in the villa with the contestants."We had two producers and they lived downstairs. We regularly chatted to them throughout the day." She added, "They had to come in around dinner and change our mics. They'd ask us how we were doing."Zara continued, "They'd also 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."

Kem Cetinay has insisted that looks aren't everything when it comes to choosing Love Island contestants. He said, "I'm sure we'll have loads of great characters they're really good the casting team. They don't just pick on looks and models, they really pick on personality."

If you're wondering why you never see the Love Island contestants absolutely wasted it's because they don't get much while they're in the villa. "We were rationed with alcohol – they didn't want us to get out-of-control drunk, so we'd only be allowed three small glasses of wine a night," Jess Shears admitted. "On the nights where there was a celebration or new islanders, we got a few bottles of bubbly for the group. My co-star Olivia Attwood and I would always try to sneak a few more glasses than everyone else!""One-on-one dates would always have more booze, though, especially a first date. They wanted to loosen you up a bit and be more flirtatious."She even went on to claim that when the islanders infamously scream "I'VE GOT A TEXT" it may actually be staged. "It looks like we get texts out of the blue, but we had to be reminded to check our phones as we never really had them on us. "So when we got a text, we wouldn't know about it straight away. The producers would tell us to get our phones and then say 'I've got a text' for the cameras."Jess also went on to confess that there were a lot of meltdowns during her time on Love Island. She said, "We had a psychologist on hand that we could speak to whenever we needed to." "There were a lot of meltdowns in the villa over missing family and friends, lack of contact with the outside world and general cabin fever so the psychologist was on hand whenever anyone needed them."

She was unlucky in love during her time on Love Island 2018 but Alexandra Cane has revealed why we never see the contestants eating lunch or dinner.She said, "We do have to be monitored on what we eat. This is to make sure everyone in the house is eating sufficient amounts of food and no one is going to get ill."So, lunch and dinner times were never shown because we had to eat certain amounts."She added, "Sometimes we would be split up so the girls would sit on their own and the boys would sit on their own to eat food, but it was mainly for monitoring purposes".

So Alexandra revealed the reason we don't see the Islanders eat during their time in the villa and Paul has spilled the tea on what they actually eat.Chatting to Closer Online, he said: "Diet wise isn't so great in the villa."In the morning you have breakfast - cereal, eggs, bacon - but you can actually request food and they'll put it in the fridge overnight."He went on to reveal that the catering team go into the villa for their lunch but described the food as bland.

Amy Hart sensationally quit the show following her brutal dumping by Curtis Pritchard and has now opened up about what happened after she left the villa. She admitted: "I watched a video featuring former Islanders Samira Mighty, Dr Alex and Jamie Jewitt explaining what life will be like."

Chris Hughes managed to make it to the final in 2017 and has given simple advice for new contestants: "Go in and be open to finding love."

You want to know what Sam Bird suggest for Love Island?"If you get on to Love Island be honest and don't hold back. Don't be afraid to show your feelings because you haven't got long. "If you like someone just go for it and if it doesn't work out at least you tried because you haven't got long."

She may have been the first contestant voted out in 2018 but Kendall Rae Knight has still given some good advice to any Love Island wannabe."Be yourself because that's what I did. I was just normal, I hadn't done anything like that before in my life, just be yourself."

Samira has said to expect nothing and have a laugh while you're in there."Have a lot of personality because you're not going to get anywhere with no personality."Also go in expecting the unexpected. Don't expect much. Don't go in and be like 'I'm going to win' because you just need to have fun."It's serious in there but have fun and when you go to the interview just be fun. Be yourself."

Alexandra has actually hinted about the Love Island audition process and given a few tips to win over the producers."If you're going to do a show reel for the show make it really fun, eye-catching."Do it in a day in the life of you, so they can see every aspect of you. From the minute you wake up to the minute you go to sleep and a typical night out. "So they're seeing all sides of your personality. I think it's a great way to get their attention."

Camilla Thurlow may not have won Love Island back in 2017 but she's one of the only contestants who is still in a relationship following her time on the show.The nation sweetheart has advised everyone who applies for Love Island to not put on an act. She said: "Just be yourself because if you're going to spend eight weeks on camera in Love Island everyone will see you exactly how you are."There's no way that you can put on an act for that amount of time so just be yourself."