Former Love Island contestant Savanna Darnell has issued a warning to future hopefuls of the ITV2 dating show ahead of the new 2022 series.
The Casa Amor bombshell, 26, who appeared on the show in 2018, has revealed that being on the show is not all that it's made out to be, and once your time in the villa is up, it can be an incredibly deflating experience.
Savanna was lucky enough to have been selected by producers from thousands of hopefuls to join the lineup in 2018.
However, her time in the villa didn't go as had of hoped, and she left the show battling mental health issues after her disaster villa stint.
Lifting the lid on her experience, Savanna said she was 'young' and 'naive' to have put her trust in Love Island bosses who ensured her she would enter the villa as an original cast member when she was contacted on Instagram to join the ITV show.
"I let Love Island takeover my whole life that year – I gave up so much. But I guess I was just a naïve 21 year old back then," she told OK! Magazine.
Savanna soon realised that her expectations of appearing on the show were nothing at all like the reality of it.
"They were all telling me constantly how much they loved me, how amazing I was going to be, and how they appreciated how different I was because I wore Vans to the auditions, when most of the other girls were in heels," she recalls.
"It felt like they were totally on my side."
However, after she made the difficult decision to put her musical theatre career on hold, she flew to Spain and went into super strict quarantine at the hotel where she felt isolated and 'out of control of her own life'.
Savanna was then soon told that she wouldn't be included in the show's original lineup - after being told that she would be - and she was flown back to the UK.
But three weeks later she was flown back out to Spain as a Casa Amor contestant.
After the stressful experience, Savanna was reassured by producers that she would get plenty of airtime - however, after she failed to make a connection with any of the contestants, she was evicted from the villa after just a number of days, and was barely featured in any scenes.
"I was working against the clock trying to forge a connection. I ended up spending a lot of time with Wes Nelson, and we shared a bed on the final night. He told me that he was going to take me to the main villa, but the next day he’d changed his mind," Savanna told of her time in Casa Amor.
"I was asking my mum about the different scenes that were televised, when I got home, and she hadn’t seen any of it. So I watched it back myself and realised I was barely on the show at all," she added.
Following her disastrous stint on the ITV show, Savanna has sought therapy to deal with her trauma - describing being evicted from the villa as the most embarrassing moment of her life.
"Out of the six girls, only two of us weren’t chosen. It was the most embarrassing moment in my whole entire life. I had to watch as they excitedly prepared to move across to the main villa – I just felt sick," she explained.
"I can’t even remember the flight back to the UK. I’ve completely blocked it out of my memory. Recently, I finally started having therapy, but I just haven’t been able to discuss it all yet.
"I put my whole worth into the show, which in hindsight I really regret doing. I wasted so much time and energy, and had nothing to show for it."
Ahead of the news series, which kicks off on June 6, Savanna has issued a stark warning to Love Island hopefuls.
"I’d say to any contestant going in this year: be smart and remember there's more to life than just this show," she told.
"It's great if it works out, but if it doesn't, you want to be able to still have a life to go back to. In other words, please don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”
Since appearing on the show, Savanna is doing well in her musical theatre career and she has now finally found love.
Love Island kicks off on Monday, June 6, at 9PM on ITV2.
