Why Love Island isn't as 'life-changing' for stars anymore, according to expert
After Love Island All Stars came to an end on Monday, one PR expert explained why appearing on the show isn't as "life-changing" as it used to be.
Press Box entertainment and TV PR, Lynn Carratt, told Yahoo UK: "Appearing on Love Island used to be life-changing for many of its contestants, you could go from being relatively unknown to amassing hundreds of thousands and millions in some cases of social media followers and when leaving the villa it opened up a whole new world of brand deals and TV deals."
Molly-Mae Hague is the most successful star to be born from Love Island, recently the centre of her own docuseries Molly-Mae: Behind It All. Other Love Island showbiz success stories include presenter Olivia Attwood as well as real-life married and TV couple Olivia and Alex Bowen.
"Some of the Islanders become millionaires after the show," Carratt added, speaking on behalf of Fruityslots.com. "Look at current All Stars Gabby Allen and Ekin-Su Culculoglu, who are already worth a reported £1.6m each. However, it has become more challenging to build your success after appearing on the show in recent years."
Gabby Allen and Casey O'Gorman took home the £50,000 prize on Monday, although Allen said she didn't even know there was a prize for winning the ITV show which is hosted by Maya Jama. It was the least watched series of the show since 2016 but it ended with one million switching on for the final, according to ratings figures reported SuperTV.
Lots has changed since Love Island first hit our screens on 2015, when the ITV dating show was first presented by late Caroline Flack. "More than 300 people have now appeared on the UK edition of the show — being an ex-Islander is no longes lucrative as it used to be," talent manager Carratt said.
"At the shows peak in 2019, it attracted six million viewers compared to its one to two million these days. Also the dating genre of TV shows is becoming saturated with more competition from streaming services."
Love Island has fierce competition in shows such as franchises Married At First Sight and Love Is Blind. Only recently ITV's 'Love Island for the older generation' spin-off My Mum, Your Dad, fronted by Davina McCall, has been axed after just two seasons.
Another change that impacted the Love Island contestants' outreach post-show is the social media ban, according to the PR expert, which was implemented in 2023 as part of ITV's "continued commitment to duty of care".
PR guru Carratt said: "A big change came in 2023 after bosses put on a social media ban on cast's families representing them while they are in the villa, it has had a massive impact on their outreach and therefore after appearing on Love Island their following wasn't on a par with the cast of previous seasons. But they didn't implement this on the All Stars this year."
With Love Island All Stars, all of the contestants have appeared on the show before. Even that return comes with an element of risk, claimed the PR expert.
She said: "This year, Ekin-Su, who came in as a bombshell, has the most significant public profile, with over four million followers on social media. However, after her appearance on Celebrity Big Brother, she had much to do to win back the public.
"She quickly paired up with Curtis but the pair have done little to win over the public. Although Ekin has brought the much-needed drama, odds show the pair were the least likely couple to win the show.
"It's always a risky move to return to the Love Island villa. You can never be quite sure of the public's reaction to you. Reality stars return to the villa to regain their public profile. They'll be on TV daily, returning them to the public's consciousness."
Despite the challenges now faced when heading out into the real world and the spotlight, Carratt said many of the islanders can make "in excess of one million" in brand deals after leaving the villa — especially highlighting the last All Stars series.
"They already have a large following," she explained. "We saw how well Molly Smith did last year after winning alongside her new beau Tom Clare. She's gained millions of followers and bagged a number of lucrative brand deals in the process, making her one of the most successful Islanders to date."
Looking at the prospect of this year's winners, the PR predicted Allen and O'Gorman could indeed "make in excess of £1 million in the next year".
"Before reentering Love Island, Gabby was already a millionaire and was commanding thousands for a social media post to her one million followers which have grown by 100,000 since her stint in the villa," she said.
"Casey's following was much lower than Gabby's but again has grown by almost 100,000 since her return to the villa and he is now almost at 400k. But could the pair now become a power couple? Like Olivia and Alex Bowen.
"I could definitely see them hosting their own podcast together like Casey's former friend Will and his girlfriend Jesse. I could also see them doing joint brand deals together with the likes of ebay and holiday brands like Vibe by Jet 2.
"Gabby I believe will be courted by fitness brands like lululemon and I can see the pair appearing on other reality TV shows — Gabby would be great on Celebrity SAS and I'd love to see Casey give Dancing on Ice a whirl."
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