Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Zara Woodcock

Winter Love Island 2023 cast's real-life jobs revealed - hairdresser to TV salesman

Love Island viewers got to double up their doses of reality TV when the winter edition returned this week on ITV2.

A fresh batch of singles entered the villa in South Africa in hopes of finding their other half, but the journey has just begun.

The contestant's left behind their jobs and hometowns to soak up the sunshine and meet other sexy singletons.

From farmers to ring girls, there are a lot of surprising careers in this year's season.

The girls looking for love are Tanya Manhenga, Lana Jenkins, Anna-May Robey, Tanyel Revan and Olivia Hawkins, and the boys hoping to find The One are Kai Fagan, Ron Hall, Will Young, Shaq Muhammad and Haris Namani.

Meanwhile, bombshell Tom Clare was voted into the villa, leaving the other bombshell, Ellie Spence, behind.

What do the Islanders do when they're not in the villa?

Olivia Hawkins, 27

Olivia is a ring girl and actress (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

From: Brighton

Job: Ring girl and actress

Olivia was originally paired with Will Young before bombshell Tom swooped in and took her for himself.

Before entering the villa, she said she'll bring "fun, vibes" and confidence to the villa, but she also might bring "a little bit of drama".

The 27-year-old was a ring girl and an actress.

A ring girl is someone who enters the ring between rounds of a combat sport, carrying a sign that displays the number of the upcoming round

Tanyel Revan, 26

Tanyel is a hairstylist (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

From: North London

Job: Hairstylist

Ahead of the series, viewers were already comparing her to last year's Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu.

She was paired up with science and PE teacher Kai Fagan from Manchester, who is 24 years old.

Before Love Island, she was a hairstylist and shared her incredible hair transformations on Instagram.

From highlights and blowouts to impeccable extensions, she did it all.

Lana Jenkins, 25

Lana has been getting close to Ron (ITV)
She is a professional make-up artist (lanajenkins/Instagram)

From: Luton

Job: Makeup artist

Lana has already suffered an embarrassing blunder after her skirt split in the middle during a lap dance.

Thankfully, everyone laughed it off.

She has also been getting to know Ron Hall, with who she has been partnered.

Speaking about her career, she recently said: "In my work as a makeup artist I’ve worked with lots of celebrities."

Anna-May Robey, 20

Anna-May (left) is a payroll administrator (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

From: Swansea

Job: Payroll administrator

The series has barely started and fans have already predicted that Anna-May and Olivia will end up feuding in the future.

Why? Anna-May is partnered up with Haris Namani but Olivia seems to have her sights set on him.

She could be bringing drama to the villa but, outside of it, she usually works as a payroll administrator.

Payroll administrators assist employees who experience problems with their pay or need to make a change and educate employees about their salary and benefits.

Tanya Manhenga, 22

Tanya is a biomedical science student (ITV)

From: Liverpool

Job: Student (biomedical science) and influencer

Tanya Manhenga is a 22-year-old biomedical science student and influencer from Liverpool.

She was the first contestant from this year's winter line-up to be announced by ITV ahead of the launch.

Tanya is currently paired up with Shaq Muhammad, an airport security officer from London.

When she's not busy carrying out a range of laboratory and scientific tests to support the diagnosis and treatment of disease, she's posting content on Instagram.

Tom Clare, 23

Tom was voted in by the public (ITV)

From: Barnsley

Job: Semi-Pro Footballer

Tom Clare was voted in as the bombshell to enter the villa and cause some drama, and that he did.

He's already taken Olivia from poor Will and the series has barely begun.

While his position is thanks to viewers, Tom's initial announcement came with some backlash.

Supporters of his team Macclesfield FC were less than impressed to see their top scorer of last season jetting off to South Africa for a 'winter of love.'

The club confirmed they'd g ranted the non-league football star extended leave to fulfil his reality TV dream.

Haris Namani, 21

Haris is a TV salesman (ITV2)

From: Doncaster

Job: TV salesman

When Haris Namani was announced as one of the contestants, many jokes were made about his occupation.

Viewers took to social media to question why he had a career straight out of the 1950s.

He's a TV salesman from Doncaster with a few strange dating rules.

Fans were concerned when he admitted he wouldn't date anyone who had feet bigger than a size five.

Shaq Muhammad, 24

Shaq is an airport security officer (ITV)

From: London

Job: Airport security officer

Shaq Muhammad ended up paired with Tanya after the first episode and they have been trying to get to know each other since.

However, at one point, Tanya managed to turn down one of his kisses.

Meanwhile, when he's not being rejected by beautiful women, he's busy in an airport as a security officer.

Will Young, 23

Will has a popular TikTok account (ITV)

From: Buckinghamshire

Job: Farmer

Will Young is probably the most famous out of all of this year's contestants thanks to his TikTok.

He already boasts 1.2 million followers on the platform so popularity isn't an issue for him.

The star isn't just any kind of influencer, he's a farming influencer.

Will lives in Buckinghamshire and shares sweet content of him shearing his sheep, looking after them and revealing what life is like as a farmer.

Kai Fagan, 24

Kai is a teacher (ITV)

From: Manchester

Job: Science and PE teacher

Kai Fagan is from Manchester and paired up with Tanyel during the first episode of the season.

Kai is passionate about sport as he is a PE teacher (and science teacher) and previously played rugby for Jamaica.

He previously said: "I’m a Jamaican citizen. Because of that I played rugby 7s for Jamaica.

"I play semi-professional rugby now for Burnage RFC. I’ve technically got three different degrees and went to three different unis."

Ron Hall, 25

Ron is a financial advisor (ITV)

From: Essex

Job: Financial advisor

Ron, who is partially sighted, won over viewers' hearts with his banter and bubbly personality.

He even made a few people tear up when he opened up about how he became blind in one eye.

Before he became a villa heartthrob, he was handing out financial advice to people.

A financial advisor helps people create long-term strategies for building wealth and managing risk.

Ellie Spence, 25

Ellie has left her legal work behind for a break in South Africa (ITV)

From: Norwich

Job: Business development executive at a law firm

Ellie said she was "ready to find [her] husband" after being single for three years before heading into the villa earlier this week.

"Overconfident guys and men that think they can get any girl when they think they are so fit and a 10/10 when in actual fact they are none of the above. I like confidence but not arrogance," she confessed when discussing her type on paper.

The bombshell is hoping her break from the legal world will help her land a man.

Zara Deniz Lackenby-Brown, 25

Zara has already rubbed shoulders with celebrities on the outside world (ITV)

From: London

Job: Model and property developer

Bombshell Zara has already dabbled in the world of showbiz.

The model has worked with rappers like Aitch, Tion Wayne and Headie One thanks to her career, and has put her degree in musical theatre and performing arts to good use with several stage performances.

"I’m fully trained in ballet, tap and jazz and have singing qualifications which led me to get scouted as a model," she explained before arriving in the villa

"I’ve since gone onto do lots of modelling and dancing for music videos for UK and global artists, I’ve worked with people like Hardy Caprio, Headie One, Aitch, Tione Wayne and more."

David Salako, 24

David entered the villa as a bombshell this week (ITV)

From: Essex

Job: Money advisor

If David makes a pretty penny off the back of his Love Island stint he'll know exactly what to do with it, thanks to his career as a money advisor

Before making his big arrival in South Africa, the Essex bombshell confessed: ""I’m very picky - I haven’t met the right one yet.

"The person you’re going to meet is never going to be perfect, but I’ve got my standards, yeah."

*Love Island airs tonight at 9pm on ITV2

* Follow Mirror Celebs on Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.