Inhumanly handsome Love Island star Jay Younger has seemingly gone from saying approximately seven words in the 2022 villa to spilling EVERY LOVE ISLAND SECRET EVER during a podcast appearance.
Not that we're complaining; in fact, for heatworld that's totally ideal. We loved Jay as the gorgeous, silent, mysterious type in the villa, and we love him even more as the gorgeous, tea-spilling type outside the villa. Both seriously do it for us, ngl.
Ex-Islanders spend a lot of their free time dodging Love Island production questions while doing interviews and podcasts, but Jay gave fans an insight into just how artificial the show can be at times after guesting on The Big Jim Show podcast, providing top-secret examples – EXAMPLES – of producer involvement.
As well as revealing that THAT argument with queen of queens Ekin-Su was pretty much egged on by producers, Jay also revealed that bombshell opening lines (the cheesy one-liners that bombshells come out with as their presence is dropped on comfortable Islanders) are allegedly given to them by Love Island producers.
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The now legendary bombshell explained using a hypothetical example, saying, "We’ve been told our lines, so I’m going to say, ‘Sorry I’m late to the party'."
Mind you, he added that producers only actively step in if bombshells say something they don't like, adding, "If you say, ‘I’ve got a massive chopper, here I come', they’re [gonna step in]”.
Jay then summarised by saying “there are certain things in there that are scripted”.
If that's not enough piping hot tea spilling for you (just think of the state of your floor, though), Jay casually added that the Islanders are then allegedly fed questions to ask the new bombshells upon their arrival (usually during icebreaker dates).
Just when we thought he was all tapped out, Jay then went on to take a few jibes at the producers themselves.
He started by saying, "They get you to do things. They’re very good at emotional manipulation – not saying that in a bad way.” Oh, the good kind of emotional manipulation then?
Jay elaborated explaining how producers were treating him just before he walked through those villa doors and to be honest, we can totally see it. He said, "They’re hyping you up; they are making you feel like you’re God’s gift. They’re making you feel like you can get any girl in there.”
He then added, “When you’re in, it’s a hunting ground for a minute – and then, produced. That’s when it becomes an experiment.”
Jay summarised by saying, “It’s like George Orwell 1984 Big Brother”.
THE TEA, JAY.
To be fair to Mr Younger, this is hardly the first time the topic of scripted Love Island scenes has been brought up by former Islanders outside of the villa.
In fact, year after year, one question seems to float around more than any other: is Love Island scripted?
The question often arises after one of the Islanders makes a decision viewers deem to be improbable or informed by public opinion outside the villa - aka made due to the input of one of the show's producers.
An example of this from 2021 was Faye Winter's change of heart following complaints regarding the way she spoke to Teddy Soares.
The producers of the show have adamantly denied that it is scripted, with a representative of the show telling Metro, “As anyone who watches the show regularly would know, Love Island is a combination of reality and produced elements that are reflective of what’s happening in the villa, and is a fair and accurate representation of villa life."
They went on, “It is absolutely untrue to suggest that Love Island is fake, staged or scripted. The opinions they have and the relationships formed are completely within the control of the Islanders themselves.”
While this may be the case, the editing of the show does affect its narrative, as editors and producers have final control over what makes it onto our tellies. In the past Islanders have expressed frustration at the way they were portrayed through editing.
Jonny Mitchell, who appeared on the show in 2017 told Sky News that he was depicted as a “snake” on his season. He said, "The way they edited the show was completely unfair.
“I got portrayed very badly in Love Island.”
Faye even hit back at Islanders who complained about how they were depicted through editing, however, during an interview with Cosmopolitan. She said, “This gets to me because regardless of which scenes were aired, you still did those things… You are still that person and those things still left your mouth.
“Own it and move on. If you've got to apologise, apologise. If you've got to live up to it, live up to it. But don't start blaming unaired scenes for that.”
Some Islanders have gone against what the producers have said, however. Talking to the Daily Star in 2018 Love Island 2017 star Tyla Carr said that producers can, “Suggest it would be a good idea if you brought something up or discussed something.”
She added, “What viewers don’t see is there is always a producer on site. They don’t live in the villa with us but someone generally comes in every hour to have a chat. They would often tannoy an announcement asking for someone to come to the sofa to have a chat with one of the producers. They tell you what they want you to talk about, and who with.”
It seems from this that certain interactions are set up or directed by the producers of the show, who are apparently present during its filming.
Molly Mae Hague made similar comments in an interview with Closer Online. She said, “Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do… for the storyline”.
Technical considerations also prevent the show from being wholly unscripted. Megan Barton Hanson told Grazia that contestants aren’t allowed to flirt in the pool as they couldn't wear their microphones in the water.
This gets rid of some of the authenticity of the encounters. The most cringeworthy example of this was when Olivia Attwood had to dump Sam Gowland twice due to a mic problem (oof).
Not all Islanders are in agreement, however. When asked by a fan on Instagram whether the show is scripted Georgia Townend replied, “No, the show is not scripted.
“We’re not performers or actresses so we wouldn’t be able to deliver lines."
From these conflicting accounts of whether the show is scripted or not it is unclear what the answer to this age old question truly is.
When watching reality TV we have to accept that what we are watching is not 100% real - real life is BORRRING and doesn't really have much of a story to it. It is down to the show's editors and producers to turn real life into something somewhat watchable.