Over the years there's been so much drama we're pretty sure a lot have people have often asked ourselves, "Is Love Island 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?
We 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).
dani broke down in tears on the show ©ITV
So we thought we'd do a little digging to see if Love Island is staged and scripted or not. After all, 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."
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."
Recently 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".
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."
Check out: former Love Island stars reveal how they were approached for the show
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Lucie Donlan
Lucie was one of those contestant who producers were eager to sign because she had been speaking to them for a few years.She told Closer Online, "They spoke to me for the past three years. I think this year I was definitely more ready for it. "I was a bit too young the other years."
Ovie Soko
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 Danyluk
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."
Amy Hart
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]."
Sherif Lanre
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.
Paul Knops
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."
Kem Cetinay
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
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
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
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
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 Mighty
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."
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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."
