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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Entertainment
Neil Shaw & Sophie Collins

The bizarre list of things banned from the Love Island villa - from fake tan to books

Love Island fans will be impatiently waiting for January 16 to roll around as the winter edition of the dating series gets underway.

Viewers will be diving back into the romance, drama, and sunshine to keep us warm over these winter months.

Over the years, past islanders and insiders of the show have revealed some of the biggest secrets that viewers otherwise wouldn’t know.

READ MORE: Drag queen legend Panti Bliss is set to dance as Rory O'Neill - if she stays long enough in the competition

So, as we head inside the new villa, we got thinking about what daily essentials our new islanders won’t be able to use until they return to normal life - and some of them are quite surprising.

Vera Clinic carried out research on the show and analysed information gathered from video content and posts shared by past islanders to reveal the essentials that you didn’t realise they are banned from using, doing, and taking into the villa with them.

Here’s everything you need to know:

Fake tan

Fake tan is actually banned from the villa, according to past contestant Chloe Burrows who shared the bizarre rule on TikTok.

She explained that since the bedroom is a big part of the show, producers did not want the white bed sheets to get destroyed by orange fake tan stains so the Islanders are not allowed to add that artificial golden glow before cameras start rolling.

Beauty products

Every contestant is provided with everything they need before entering the villa, including all beauty, skincare, sun cream, and grooming products - as long as they’re sponsors of the show.

The products are often on display for promotional purposes so the contestants do not need to bring any of their own personal beauty products with them.

Mobile phones

This is an obvious one, as one of the main clauses of entering the villa is having no contact with the outside world.

Although each contestant is given a phone to use on the show - to take photos and receive the famous ‘I’ve got a text!’ messages - their personal phones are strictly banned from the villa.

It seems that this year’s contestants will also be missing out on that at-home promotion while they’re in the villa too.

This year, the islanders' families and friends are banned from monitoring or posting on the contestant's phones.

Books, magazines or newspapers

As well as mobile phones it is no shock that islanders are also cut off from the outside world and are not allowed access to any newspapers, magazines, or books during their free time meaning they really do need to be grafting 24/7.

Branded clothes

Every islander is given a constant stream of clothing and shoes to wear on the show, courtesy once again of the show’s sponsors.

This means that they are not allowed to wear any of their own clothes if they contain identifiable brands, logos, or slogans.

In past years, I Saw It First has sponsored Love Island but from last year, the show works alongside eBay to promote wearing more sustainable, preloved clothing.

The time

Very few people get to experience life without knowing the time, but for Islanders, this is key to falling in line with producer’s rules.

Islanders are not allowed to wear - or even bring - watches into the villa and there are no clocks inside the hose.

It has also been reported that the time is covered up on the oven and the hot tub.

Past islanders have said they have to use the sun to gauge the time of day and are told when to sleep and wake up by the producers.

WiFi

Although it makes sense considering that contestants are not permitted to have any form of contact with the outside world, there is no WiFi connection in the villa.

Amy Hart from season 5 of the show revealed that the phones they were given are “jail-broken,” with everything bar the camera and texting messaging strictly off limits.

Excessive food and drink

If you’ve ever wondered why the islanders never seem to get drunk during the parties and evenings, it’s because their alcohol intake is restricted.

Each islander is permitted to have two glasses of wine or two glasses of beer during a party evening.

Food is also supplied and producers are able to take shopping list requests from the contestants, with past islanders sharing that they were sometimes treated to takeaways.

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