In 2015, Love Island came back into our lives, almost ten years after the celebrity series aired for two seasons in 2005 and 2006. The show, based around singletons trying to find love in order to couple up and win a share of £50k, is now a seasonal event in the British TV calendar and it takes over people’s lives. Love Island honestly has people hooked, makes household names of ‘normal’ folk and we’re hugely invested in the lives of the contestants for years after they appeared on the show.
Host Laura Whitmore, who took over from Caroline Flack after she tragically passed away in 2020, has revealed that she took over presenting duties because “she loves love”.
But is love even at the forefront of the show anymore?
Now, if you’re a die hard Love Island viewer (like me) you would have noticed a tremendous change in the show since series one five years ago. In series one, it was definitely all about love when Jon Clark got down on one knee and asked Hannah Elizabeth – would that happen now? Probably not. Did it work out between them? Of course not, but Jon was clearly so overcome with emotion he forgot he was on a reality show.
If you cast your mind back, you might remember that the earlier seasons of the show included ‘normal’ people with relatively normal jobs (they obviously were gorgeous, too).
2017 stand out star Olivia Buckland, who found love and marriage with Alex Bowen on the show, was living in council flat and worked in a call centre before joining the show and even though 2018 winner Kem Cetinay was known in the Essex party circuit, he was a hairdresser by trade.
“I didn’t go on Love Island for love, I didn’t go in for money, I just went in for a laugh,” Olivia admitted.
“My friends say I’ve become a nicer person because of Love Island.”
CHECK OUT Love Island's most successful bombshells
The most SUCCESSFUL Love Island bombshells - slider
1 of 11Maura Higgins - Series 5
Irish babe Maura Higgins is one of our all-time favourite Islanders and number one bombshell of all time. Maura entered the villa on Day 10 and went on to leave in fourth place alongside ex Curtis Pritchard. Maura has since proven to be Love Island gold, she went on to take part in Dancing On Ice in early 2020, released a collab with Ego shoes, and landed a HUGE deal with lingerie brand Ann Summers.
2 of 11Kaz Crossley - Series 4
Kaz made a name for herself when she entered Casa Amor as a bombshell on Day 26 in 2018. After coupling up with Josh Denzel (remember that now ICONIC scene as Georgia Steele called Josh out for not being 'loyal'), she went all the way to the final. Kaz's relationship with Josh fizzled out and she went onto date Love Island alumni Theo Campbell. However, Kaz made a name for herself away from her love life, starting her own business Kazbands, using her platform to raise awareness of the benefits of kickboxing and hosts her own podcast Slide In With Snoochie, Kaz and Jordan.
3 of 11Greg O'Shea - Series 5
Greg is famously the most successful Love Island bombshell EVER as he was the last to enter the villa in 2019 and walked away the winner alongside Amber Gill. Despite his romance with Amber not lasting, the rugby player has enjoyed huge success since the show - more recently being called up to the Olympic games in Tokyo with the Ireland 7s rugby team. Pretty major, right?
4 of 11Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury - Series 5
We can't really believe 2018 golden couple Tommy are Molly were both bombshells either (who can forget that ICONIC Molly-Mae hot tub scene). Yep, even though Tommy was a bombshell on the first day, it still counts. The pair are still very much together and have enjoyed so much success since the show. Tommy now has a career as a boxer and Molly is the most followed Islander EVER with over five million Instagram followers. She's also brought out her own tan range, Filter, and has released clothing collections with PrettyLittleThing.
5 of 11Megan Barton-Hanson - Series 4
Megan was what we wish every single Love Island bombshell was like. She was super, confident and she sure stirred things up. She entered the villa on Day 8, famously stole Wes Nelson from Laura Anderson and made the final and came fourth place. However, Megan's work post-show has made her a feminist sensation. She's joined OnlyFans, had her own lingerie collection with Ann Summers, launched her own podcast You Come First and writes her own sex and love advice column for Vice.
6 of 11Demi Jones - Series 6
Demi entered the winter series of Love Island on day 16 but we all fell a little in love with her and she made the final with her now ex-boyfriend Luke Mabbott. Since the show, Demi has made a name for herself as an influencer, is a brand ambassador for Tattilashes and more recently, has been documenting her fight with Thyroid cancer. Go Demi!
7 of 11Ovie Soko - Series 5
Ah Ovie, is there an Islander we miss more? We don't think so. Like the rest in this list, Ovie arrived late to the villa and made it way all the way to the final. Looking back, many of us would have loved it if he won the show alongside his 'sister' Amber Gill, but you win some you lose some. Since the show basketball star Ovie has only got even more popular, he still plays for Great Britain Men's National Basketball Team and even landed his own BBC documentary Ovie: Life After Reality TV.
8 of 11Finley Tapp - Series 6
It's hard to remember Paige Turley's Love Island experience until her prince Finley Tapp walked in on day five. Finn arguably is the most successful bombshell, as he found a girlfriend AND won a share of 50k - what more could you want?
9 of 11Kady McDermott - Series 2
It seems like a long time ago, but Kady was one of the original bombshells, entering the villa on day three of season two. Kady found love in the villa and left with her now ex-boyfriend Scott Thomas but she's definitely made a name for herself ever since. Over the years Kady has started her own fitness brand Body Goals by Kady, enjoyed a stint on TOWIE and has released clothing collections with Missy Empire and AX Paris.
10 of 11Chris Hughes - Series 3
Chris entered series three on day four and set his sights on pretty much EVER female. He made it all the way to the final with Olivia Attwood and he's still as relevant as ever. After the show, Chris and Olivia's life was filmed for their very own reality show Chris and Olivia: Crackin' On (they split in the final episode), he released a song 'Little Bit Leave It' with fellow Islander Kem Cetinay, became a brand ambassador for CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) and released a book My Life Story: You Bantering Me. Chris now presents horse racing coverage on ITV.
11 of 11Zara McDermott - Series 4
Zara entered the villa as a bombshell alongside Ellie Brown two weeks in. She quickly coupled up with Adam Collard but she was dumped in a brutal twist ten days later. Despite a nasty split from Adam months after the show ended, Zara didn't let it come between her career and she went onto big things. She appeared on The X Factor: Celebrity in 2019, joined the cast of Made In Chelsea alongside her boyfriend Sam Thompson, signed to Storm models, released a BBC documentary about her experience being a victim of Revenge Porn and teamed up with Missguided for a fashion edit.
Because the show was relatively unknown, contestants did genuinely apply to find love, they had no clue how much their life would change as a result. What did they have to lose? These days, those who apply are very aware of the PrettyLittleThing/Missguided deals, millions of former Islanders have made and offers of spin-off reality show and who could blame them?
Thanks to the success of the earlier seasons, Love Island has got a lot more polished in recent years.
2018 star Zara McDermott, who is now loved up with Made in Chelsea’s Sam Thompson, recently joked, "I was there for a PLT deal!"
However, thanks to the success of the earlier seasons, Love Island has got a lot more polished in recent years. Smoking has been banned, sex is widely discouraged, a lot of the contestants have a strong social media following before joining the show, many sign with management prior to heading in, a lot of Islanders state that they model as a side hustle and the producers have even got celebrity relatives involved (Dani Dyer, Tommy Fury and Curtis Pritchard, we’re looking at you).
Aside from the lure of clothing collections, many former contestants have admitted that despite not finding love in the villa, they used the show as a springboard to have a career – just like Olivia Attwood, arguably one of the successful contestants.
There is no doubt that former contestants have monetised their villa relationships - only to split soon after.
Olivia, who is now engaged to her boyfriend Bradley Dack who she met before Love Island, left the show in a relationship with Chris Hughes. They famously had a rocky time of it, but boy did they monetise it. The same could be said for 2019 winners Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham.
As well as a ITV2 spin-off show with Chris, Olivia went on to appear on The Only Way Is Essex and landed her own show with Bradley, Olivia Meets Her Match.
On the subject of Love Island regrets, Olivia admits, “I look back on it really fondly. I try not to live life with regrets but I think hindsight is a nice thing!”
She recently hit out at contestants that publicly slate the show but "milk it". In a frank Instagram Q&A, Olivia was recently asked, “Any ex Love Islanders you HATE? 👀”, by a follower.
Not holding back (because of course she wouldn’t), Olivia replied, “I don’t hate anyone in this life!!!! But I could do without the ones who slag off the show but still milk the platform it gave them for all it’s worth 👀😴."
As we tune into the current 2021 series of Love Island, we can’t help but be a little cautious when it comes to believing that the crop of Islanders are genuinely there to find and experience love. There’s only one couple who have been coupled up from the beginning – Liberty Poole and Jake Cornish – and viewers have had their doubts about him ‘playing the game’ to win the show since day dot. Hugo Hammond has been so unlucky in love in the villa (he’s friend zoned everyone) that many have questioned his true intentions on being there.
Lucinda Strafford was accused of "only being there for a fashion collab" as she let love interest Brad McClelland walk out of the villa on his own and sacrifice his place as he thought she would have more opportunities. Let's not even touch on those rumours that shemade a secret pact with her ex boyfriend Aaron Connolly.
This year, many Love Island fans have become more invested in single Islanders, mainly Kaz Kamwi, Liberty Poole and Millie Court. There’s been so many tweets about how they want the girls to win the show and not share the 50K prize pot with their partners. Some have even hinted that they want Toby Aromolaran to win just for providing the most entertainment, mainly because his head has spun more than a Kylie Minogue song.
It happened in 2019 when Love Island Amber Gill was crowned the winner; we don’t think it had anything to do with her romance with Greg O’Shea – although she did share the money with him.
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2018 winner Amber Davies, who fulfilled her dreams of becoming a West End star partly due to her exposure in Love Island, admitted that she doesn’t see any of this year’s constestants finding love.
“They’re far more likely to land a fashion deal than find love," she told The Sun.
She continued, “I’ve loved the series, and I will never criticise the show. It gave me so many opportunities and it started my career, but I feel like this year people are in and out of it a lot quicker.”
Now, we don’t want to be completely cynical, as many Love Island coupleshave gone on to get married, start familiesand get their happy ever after. However, those contestants are in the minority, and it seems that the lure of fame and money could be more important than finding true love.