I was on Love Island and here’s what really happens before you enter the villa
LOVE Island’s Jack Keating has spilled the tea on what life is really like in the days leading up to entering the villa.
The redheaded reality star, 23, was a Casa Amor bombshell in the last series of the ITV2 show.
The contestants’ identities are shrouded in secrecy and they spend the moments before entering the villa being educated on what to expect once the experience ends.
Jack exclusively told the Sun: “They take it all very seriously. For us, we were put in a holding villa for four days over in Mallorca and it was just Powerpoint, video, instructions on how to deal with everything and they really encouraged us to not look at anything on social media basically and try and turn all of that stuff off.
“They encouraged us not to read comments about us. The show does a really good job and work with therapists and offer you that pretty much free.
“On the build up it’s great, and they’re very cautious to cover a lot of things regarding mental health, and especially when you get out of the villa. It is such a big whirlwind when you get out and a tsunami of attention and people want to talk to you.”
Today we revealed new potential Love Island contestants have to undergo strict testing ahead of appearing on the show, from medical assessments to psychological tests.
And an insider has revealed that they won’t just test the chosen Islanders, but instead hundreds of people who might not even nab a place on the series.
The medical insider revealed to The Sun: “We test hundreds of potential Love Islanders – around 150 in total – who’ll come in for their health tests before the show.
“They don’t all make it onto the show so it’s odd that they all get sent for the testing. I don’t necessarily think they don’t make it on for medical reasons.”
The insider continued to explain that ITV will “spend thousands” on the testing for Love Island contestants.
“ITV spend a fortune on the tests, as it’s around £400 for each contestant per test,” they explained.
They also have to remain cautious when doing the tests, in a bid to not let the Islanders bump into each other before the show airs.
They explained: “We have to sneak the Islanders up different staircases and up different passageways so they don’t spot each other. We use a building that gives us the ability to do this. It’s all very secretive.”
Love Island launches its new winter series in just a matter of days over in South Africa, and it has announced a massive shake-up of show rules ahead of the new series.
Family and friends of the next batch of islanders are now banned from posting on their social media accounts during the show, instead accounts will be dormant.
In past series, islanders’ teams used their accounts to encourage viewers to vote for them and build up their following.
However, they were often subject to vile abuse from trolls and there were even occasional spats between contestants’ family and friends.
Love Island is also cracking down on gaslighting following incidents such as Jacques O’Neill and Paige Thorne’s ill-fated romance that viewers found uncomfortable to watch.