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Love Island has been so successful that there's now an All Stars series featuring some of the show's most memorable contestants having another shot at finding love in the villa. But, while it's now seen as a fast-track to celebrity, it was the celebrities themselves who were dying to appear on the show once upon a time.
That’s right, 19 years ago – when Love Island first aired – the original series saw a whole host of single celebs head to Fiji for eight weeks of sun, sea and (actual) sex. There were no creepy foot-squirming shots back then.
Celebrity Love Island began in 2005 as a competitor for Big Brother and ran for two seasons, starring the likes of models Calum Best and Bianca Gascoigne as well as popstar Shane Lynch. Even Strictly star Brendan Cole starred on the show in its second series (we know). Here are the wildest moments from the original series...
The public kicked off at watching celebrities get a free holiday
This is a world away from the public reaction nowadays: the original series faced a backlash for essentially giving celebrities free holidays, as well as an ‘appearance fee’ to be on the show. The celebrities themselves were even criticised for not being entertaining enough. When you consider how much we idolise recent contestants like Ovie Soko for going on Love Island and refusing to play the game – essentially, lounging around and taking in the sun – you can see how much the public's reaction has changed.
Bianca Gascoigne was told she was almost obese by Alicia Douvall
In an entirely unnecessary production move, contestants were pulled into a room and told what people on the outside thought of them. For Bianca Gascoigne and model Sophie Anderton, that person was fellow model Alicia Douvall who told Bianca she was "one cupcake away from obesity". The moment is shocking to watch now, especially as Sophie's attempt at comfort is an invitation to do sit-ups with her.
The public reaction back then was sympathy for Gascoigne, but according to Digital Spy, Bianca lost weight in 2007 and she went on to publicly thank Douvall for inspiring her to "slim down". We can't imagine any part of this encounter would be similarly embraced if it were to happen in 2024.
Lady Victoria Hervey poured a bottle of wine over Sophie Anderton’s head
When socialite Lady Victoria Hervey was forced to leave her love - film director Chris Brosnan - behind after her eviction, he quickly moved on admitting he fancied other women in the villa. However, the biggest stab in the back for Hervey came when he got close to Sophie Anderton, her friend of nine years. Returning to confront Sophie, their confrontation came to no conclusion as Lady Victoria refused to believe she was sorry. So she poured a bottle of wine over her head as she left.
It’s a world away from the Love Island rules we now know, where any aggression towards other contestants can get you kicked off the show. Back in 2016, bombshell Malia Arkian was axed from the villa the same night she entered following a confrontation with Kady McDermott. Three years later, Sheriff Lanre was removed after allegedly jokingly kicking Molly-Mae Hague in the crotch.
Returning exes was an everyday occurrence
Lady Victoria Hervey wasn’t the only Islander to be flown back out to Fiji once her beau had moved on. Singer Leo Ihenacho also made a surprise return when his former flame, Bianca Gascoigne, became close to Calum Best. Not only did he come back to confront the couple, he surprised them by jumping out of a cake. And if they couldn't fly back out? Well, the contestants who had moved on to new loves would find out their thoughts anyway. Producers would often capture video messages from exes and play them to their old beau and new partner. One particularly memorable moment saw Chris Brosnan being told off by DJ Colleen Shannon for his behaviour after she left.
'House Guests' were a thing
Nowadays, when the season is getting boring, producers go to extreme lengths to raise the drama. You know, like in 2018 when they gave Dani Dyer a picture of Jack Fincham that implied he was getting close with someone else – he wasn’t - and Ofcom received a record number of complaints? Yeah, well the 2005 version didn’t need that kind of manipulation because random celebrities were often brought in temporarily to mix things up.
Dubbed ‘house guests’, these celebrities would come into the villa on a seven-day contract and included the likes of Abs Breen from Five, NBA legend Dennis Rodman and Jackass star Steve-O. While they couldn’t be eligible for eviction or winning the £50,000 prize, they could be voted into the love shack – the equivalent of the current series' Hideaway.
Steve-O came and left in two days because there wasn't enough beer or chocolate
Season two of Love Island saw the arrival of house guest Steve-O, who was added to the show to boost ratings. Despite saying he had stopped drinking alcohol, the Jackass star requested beer on the show and left after there wasn’t enough alcohol or chocolate available to the stars.
It’s something a number of contestants in the current series have also complained about, with Islanders only allowed one or two glasses of wine or champagne every evening. However, given the responsibility producers now face to protect Islanders from public scrutiny, we can’t say it’s a bad thing that they’re not encouraging them all to get wasted.
Sophie Anderton was called "mental" for shouting at Paul Danan when he pulled her bikini bottoms down
In a memorable on-screen moment, Sophie Anderton understandably fumed in the Love Island beach hut after actor Paul Danan pulled her bikini bottoms down. While her reaction attracted typical judgement that she was ‘overreacting’, watching it back now we can’t help but give a standing ovation at her ability to explicitly define consent to viewers.
"No man is allowed to touch me without my permission," she said at the time. Paul would absolutely be kicked off the show for such behaviour now.
Calum Best starred in both season one and two
Setting him on the path to reality TV royalty, Calum was so popular in season one he was brought back as a late arrival in season two (similar to Adam Collard). He ended up taking the crown that year with partner Bianca Gascoigne – although the pair never actually ended up properly dating.
The second season had a name change because the celebrities weren’t A-list enough
Quite hilariously, the first season received so much backlash for not featuring 'real celebrities' that producers had to change the name of it to remove the word ‘celebrity’ for the following series.
In all fairness, the contestants in the 2005 season were mostly former soap actors and models. Save for Jayne Middlemiss, who was a TV and radio presenter and Liz McClarnon of Atomic Kitten, most of the contestants were no longer in the public eye.