The World Of 'Love Island' Explored In New Documentary

1 December 2022, 12:19

Love Island's ex-contestants have appeared in a documentary
Love Island's ex-contestants have appeared in a documentary. Picture: Shutterstock

By Savannah Roberts

A new documentary takes a look at the life of Love Island contestants following their appearance on the dating series.

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Love Island undoubtedly has us gripped to our screens every summer and has become somewhat of a pop culture phenomenon – and now there's a documentary about the hit ITV2 show.

Life After Love Island is the latest episode in Channel 4's Untold show, a documentary series that explores the lesser-known side of popular topics.

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Host Will Njobvu speaks with multiple former Islanders in the episode that airs on December 1 and delves into what life was like for them once they left the famous Majorcan villa.

Love Island began back in 2015 and has released eight seasons and one winner edition since, with each year becoming more popular than the last. The Channel 4 documentary interviews a selection of contestants from the last seven years of dating show.

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Life After Love Island explores the contestant experience
Life After Love Island explores the contestant experience. Picture: Channel 4

Islanders are constantly making headlines about the lucrative deals they score after their time on the show, but Life After Love Island looks at individuals who weren't so lucky following their summer of love.

Ikenna Ekwonna from the 2022 series told Will about his financial struggles after appearing on the ITV2 show, revealing that the money he was making post-Love Island worked out "less than half than what he was earning" at his old job.

"You come out thinking “oh it’s Love Island, everyone after Love Island is set, and coming out of it you’re like “where is it?”" he said on the Life After Love Island: UNTOLD.

Fan-favourite Casa Amor contestant from season eight, Coco Lodge also shared that her expectations weren't met following her reality TV stint.

She said: "The perfect scenario would have been 1 million or 2 million followers. But I came out with 30,000 followers and I just didn’t really understand… I was like “why does everyone hate me."

Love Island contestants were interviewed for the documentary
Love Island contestants were interviewed for the documentary. Picture: ITV
Wes Nelson spoke about his experience after the show
Wes Nelson spoke about his experience after the show. Picture: ITV
Coco Lodge appeared on the Channel 4 doc
Coco Lodge appeared on the Channel 4 doc. Picture: ITV

Wes Nelson, one of the villa's most successful names, told the presenter that the influencer element following the show made him feel "quite depressed". The 24-year-old has forged an impressive career for himself which diverts from the typical Islander path, he's become a successful musician, signed a record deal and appeared on X Factor: Celebrity and Dancing On Ice.

Wes spoke about the influencing lifestyle to the host: "I didn’t want to be a part of that. I wanted to be part of something real and make a difference."

The Channel 4 documentary went on to share statistics about contestants' success after their villa appearances, revealing that a whopping 130 Islanders went back to their old jobs after the show.

A right of passage for many Love Island alumni is signing a fashion brand deal, of which 28 contestants have done according to the documentary, 27 have set up accounts on OnlyFans and 65 have continued their reality television careers on other shows.

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