The social media ban which was introduced on this year's Love Island could mean the demise of the show for good, according to one insider.
For the first time, islanders were not allowed to update their Instagram accounts while they were in the villa - something that's usually handled by friends and family of the current crop taking part in the ITV2 reality show.
For the stars of the first series of 2023, that's resulted in a lot of them leaving with a lot less followers than previous contestants.
And it appears to be having a knock-on effect as Last week fashion retailer Pretty Little Thing revealed they will not sign anyone from Winter Sun 2023.
This could then spell bad news for producers, as it's been reported that budding influencers will be put off applying.
Pretty Little Thing has signed stars including Molly-Mae Hague, Gemma Owen and Indiyah Polack in the past and it can mean big money deals for anyone heading out of the villa.
It's been claimed that the number of singletons applying for the show have already "slumped" following the latest series.
"There are fewer applicants for Love Island this summer," a source tells Daily Mail.
"The ban has exposed what we all know: that the show is all about landing lucrative deals, not finding love."
A spokesman for ITV told the Mirror: "Love Island is primarily about people looking for love."
None of this year's crop have left the villa with more than a million followers, with winners Kai and Sanam Harrinanan leaving with 173,000 and 153,000 Instagram followers respectively the day after they left the luxury Cape Town pad last week.
Gemma Owen finished the summer series last year with over a million followers – after gaining 920,000 while her family ran her Instagram account during the show.
The closest from this year to a million is Jessie Wynter with 709,000 - but she previously appeared on Love Island Australia.
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