The recent season of Love Island All Stars just wrapped with Gabby Allen and Casey O’Gorman taking first place and winning $50,000, but their win was met with some controversy surrounding O’Gorman’s true intentions on the show.
With Love Island All Stars season two being O’Gorman’s third season on the show, his fellow islanders believed he probably came back to the show to chase clout instead of find love. But O’Gorman was not the only islander accused of being on the show for the wrong reasons this season. During the last episode before the finale, islander Grace Jackson was called out by fellow islander Liv Hawkins for sending messages to people claiming that she would do anything to win the show this time around. This alluded to the idea that she would couple up with anyone if it meant taking home that first place prize.
Although Jackson denied these allegations, it really makes me wonder if people actually believe Love Island contestants go on the show to find love. Of course, I think there are some good apples in the bunch that genuinely want to find love and settle down, but as for the rest? I think they see how fellow contestants have gotten fame and fortune and want the same thing. Love Island is a tool for easy exposure and some influencer fame. And with Love Island really blowing up over the last couple of years, we’ve seen contestants go from regular people to full-blown celebrities getting brand deals, walking red carpets, and posing for magazines.
Love Island wasn’t always a breeding ground for stardom, though. It started off as a small dating show but (in my opinion) really blew up after season five when contestants like Molly-Mae Hague gained wild fame after her season. Hauge was able to get her own collection with PrettyLittleThing following her season, and she even has a docuseries on her life out right now. Another example of islanders blowing up after their seasons would have to be Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu from season eight. After her time in the season eight villa, Ekin-Su went on to star in a handful of other reality tv shows, like The Traitors US, Celebrity Big Brother, The Wheel, and Dancing on Ice.
Not only has Love Island UK been known for making contestants famous, but this year, Love Island USA really skyrocketed. The once lesser-watched series has now turned into the fan favorite of the franchise.
Love Island USA season six really blew up this year, grossing 919.1 million minutes watched during the week of July 5-11, becoming the “No.1 most-watched streaming original series in the U.S.” Before this season, people barely even batted an eye at the USA version, calling it “a flop.” But things sure did change this recent season when Lea Kateb, Serena Page, and Jana Craig graced our screens and brought the drama that needed to be brought.
Proving how popular these girls were, fan-favorite Kateb has racked up over 3 million followers on Instagram since the show has wrapped. And not only has Kateb gotten fame, but the first-place winners Page and Kordell Beckham have been modeling for Fenty by Rihanna and have been featured in Cosmopolitan magazine. Beckham was even able to do his dream collab with Cheez-It.
After the success of season six, I feel like people are definitely going to be flocking to Love Island USA to gain the same success as the previous islanders. Although Love Island can be seen as a successful dating show because of the couples that have managed to last after the show, I ultimately think that most people go on Love Island to launch their personal careers. But whether the contestants are there for love or not, I will still be watching — because that drama is just too entertaining.