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Surprising Love Island secrets you never knew

Photo credit: ITV
Photo credit: ITV

Love Island 2021 is so close we can almost hear the sound of eggs being put into baskets and heads being turned. The excitement is real, people! Thanks to COVID-19, it's been almost two years since we had our last Love Island fix, and frankly we can't wait to spend the summer watching the new cast couple up.

In anticipation of the new series, which is set to return to screens any day now, we decided to do some digging and uncover all the surprising Love Island secrets you never knew.

Love Islanders are only allowed two drinks per night

While most of the contestants would probably love to blame their cringiest moments on alcohol, the show's producers actually only allow them two drinks each night. Montana Brown, who appeared on series three, told the Independent: "Most of the time it’s one beverage a night. They’re really strict about that. At a push it’s two." Hey, at least it means they don't have to deal with a hangover.

They have to get up early each morning

Speaking of hangovers, it's lucky the Islanders avoid them, given that producers wake them up at 9:30 am every morning. No snoozing allowed. "The days were very long, and the producers never let us sleep in past 9:30am [because] that wasn’t entertaining," Kady told Cosmopolitan UK. "They used to wake us up through speakers."

There are cameras in the toilets

Glamour reported that there were 80 cameras on 2020's Winter Love Island, including in the toilet. Although thankfully the footage isn't monitored – or aired – and is just for health and safety purposes.

Islanders use their phones to text each other

While contestants don't have access to their personal mobile phones, or the outside world, they are allowed to communicate with each other on their villa phones. As Tom Powell told new! Magazine, you can take selfies and message each other during the show "everything else is blocked." We wonder what those texts look like 👀.

There's a lot of contraception in the villa

Love Island have their very own brand of condoms (via PopBuzz), and there's apparently a stash of over 200 in the villa.

Villa life can be boring

There's no TV, books or internet in the villa, which means Islanders can get pretty bored when they're not busy coupling up or kissing in the Hideaway. Former contestant Chris Williamson told the BBC: "It sounds so bizarre to say that being in the sunshine in this £10m villa surrounded by good looking guys and girls just getting a tan could get boring, but it really does."

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"You have no distractions - it's you and the situations that are going on 24 hours a day."

There are no clocks in the villa

Season two's Kady McDermott revealed there are no clocks in the villa, and that Islanders guess the time based on where the sun is (yes, really). "You don’t even know what time it is! You’re not allowed clocks," she told Cosmopolitan. "You’re in your own secluded world, you know nothing – you don’t even know what day it is really."

Dumpings happen at really strange times

According to Glamour, most Love Island evictions happen at 3 am, after all the public votes have been counted.


The cast get one day off a week

Season three winner, Kem Cetinay, revealed the Islanders get one day off each week to hang out at the beach without their microphones – which is why the show doesn't air on Saturday nights. But don't worry, that doesn't mean we miss any drama. Contestants are strictly forbidden from discussing anything to do with the show when they're off mic. Phew!

The grass in the villa is not real

Ever wondered why the grass looks immaculate at all times? That's because all the grass and flowers in the villa are fake (via Glamour).

The cast go into lockdown before entering the villa

While we're all now very much familiar with lockdowns, it seems Love Islanders already had plenty of lockdown practice way before COVID-19 was even a thing. Season two's Chris revealed to the BBC that contestants go into total lockdown before entering the villa. The cast aren't allowed to communicate with the outside world, or even each other, and have to be chaperoned by a producer at all times. Intense!

The new season of Love Island is expected to be back on screens later this month. Summer = sorted.

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