Love Islanders all enter the villa in a bid to find romance – but you can't help but be aware of the potential fame and fortune that lies in wait after leaving the villa.
While they lounge by the pool and pull one another for chats, the Islanders' follower count – especially on their Instagram pages – rises up and up reaching hundreds of thousands of followers and they get the big money sponsorship deals to match.
However, the current Islanders may be in for a surprise when they get their phones back after the show – as their follower counts are noticeably smaller than contestants from previous series, including the last show in the summer.
What some viewers don't realise is that Islanders are also paid while they are in the villa, too. But just how much?
Former Islander Jay Younger, who appeared in the 2022 series of the programme, said Islanders get "minimum wage".
Speaking on The Big Jim Show previously, Jay spilled: "Once they send through the contract, I think they pay you like £375 a week. It’s very low; it’s like minimum wage. £375 a week and they’ll pay for any ad hoc advertisements you do.
"So like, you might be holding a bottle and they might pay you a fee for that. I can’t remember what that was.
"They’ll pay you if you’re wearing certain sponsored clothes – if they see you on camera with that. But it’s not about the money, it’s about the exposure it’s meant to give you after."
However, the financial opportunities from ITV don't stop once the Islanders leave the series as Jay explained: "They invite you to events after which they pay you like £1,200 – like an ITV commercial event, something like that."
Islanders also branch out to sign deals with brands after touching down in the UK, too with Molly-Mae Hague signing up as Pretty Little Thing's creative director and Inidiyah Polack becoming a beauty ambassador for Boots.
Some Islanders have been paid record amounts in deals in the past, with Amber Gill landing a £1 million with MissPap and Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu landing the same money deal with Oh Polly, before reportedly being dropped by the brand.
But, this year's Islanders may struggle to bag big money deals as their Instagram following is significantly lower than those from previous years.
While Tasha Ghouri and Paige Thorne from last series boast 1.5 million followers each on Instagram and Ekin-Su has a whopping 3.2 million fans, the 'original' female Islanders from this series are struggling to reach half the amount.
Olivia Hawkins has 151,000 followers, while Lana Jenkins boasts 173,000 and Tanya Manhenga has a following on 90,000.
The viewing figures for the first episode of the current season was the lowest the show has seen in five years, which could be a contributing factor.
Just 1.4 million fans tuned in to watch the Islanders strut into the villa in their swimwear in the hopes of finding romance.
But, before the show kicked off the show bosses put a new rule in place to reduce trolling – but it also reduces the Islanders' social media interaction in general.
The rule change meant Islanders' social media channels had to lay dormant while they were on villa in a contrast to previous years – where family members were tasked with posting and looking after social channels.
PR and marketing expert Carla Speight gives her view on the rule and reveals how the ban has meant this years' Islanders won't be landing six-figure deals outside the villa.
She tells the Mirror: "Whilst I admire what the Love Island executives' thinking was behind a social media ban, it's clearly not worked as there are profiles out there for ever cast member.
"Also the families are still getting trolls coming through, only it’s on their personal profiles, not the cast members."
Carla adds: "The only thing the Love Island execs have achieved with that they have made it a lot harder for this new series to get anything worth while out of the show.
"There won't be any six figure deals on the table for this series that’s for sure. Follower counts are at around 10% compared the other series.
"Their engagement will be at an all time low because they're not posting fresh content for followers to like, share or comment on. This is really what brands are interested in. They want to see fans getting hyped by what they post, but it's simply going to be an uphill struggle for the cast of this series, as they'll basically be starting from scratch. Where as the other series had a super engaged following of millions when they left the villa."
Meanwhile, Carla reveals Islanders will also struggle to go back to their jobs before the villa, too.
"The problem this year will face is that post show, they can’t exactly go back to their old jobs," she says. "However they don’t have enough of a following to get them brand deals that will earn enough to live on.
"They’ll need some serious PR behind them once they leave the show to lift up their profiles. They will have to be seen everywhere.
"Chances are they will probably have to go straight into another reality show to build up their follower counts and engagement. But again, they’ll need to do some serious work to make themselves interesting enough to other shows, because their follower counts will go against them."
Carla also adds how the ban may have been intended on protecting the mental health of Islanders, it will be hard for contestants to carve a career.
She suggests: "A good way to support cast members and their families would be to get a PR agency in that specialises in media training and can help with social media too.
"It would go a long way to helping them handle what comes from a show like this, the trolling, what they need to do to really give their following a boost, post show interviews in the press & TV and how to go about next steps in their careers.
"This would help so much more as it will really help them to know what they're doing, how to handle everything that they will face as others have done before."
