As a nation we are now completely OBSESSED with all things Love Island. Since 2015, hundreds of Islanders have entered the villa and kept us entertained with eight series (including the winter series) of dating and #dramz (emphasis on the latter).
And, let's face it, there's something about series eight, isn't there? Everything's just bigger, better and 'bene' (swoon) and we do appreciate that glow-up, ITV2 (although a side of us does miss the raw, unfiltered and somewhat producer-free early years).
This year, we especially thank you for golden couple Ekin-Su and Davide, because, honestly, we smell a new Posh and Becks. Take our word for it, loves - we know how to smell out stars and these two whiff of star power. We also thank you for introducing Ekin-Su's doppelgänger Nathalia, cause, the dramz. Just, ben fatto (that's well done in Italian FYI).
Anyway, as we prepare for Love Island 2023, we thought we'd look back at those who paved the way for the newest Islanders and revisit every single Love Island winner (including the Celebrity Love Island winners), to see what they have been up to since appearing on the show.
Warning: these throwbacks will make you feel old. Seriously, we've whacked on a fresh layer of anti-ageing moisturiser and factor 30 after writing about Callum Best on Celebrity Love Island (Gemma Owen would've been two, btw).
Off you go, fetch whatever creams, tonics and juices you require for this. We'll wait.
CHECK OUT: where are the winners of Love Island now?
Love Island winners - where are they now RADIO STACKED
2005 - Celebrity Love Island - Jayne Middlemiss
TV presenter and model Jayne Middlemiss was the first person to win Celebrity Love Island, alongside Fran Cosgrave. Nothing happened between the pair when they left the villa, with Jayne continuing with work in TV, including shows such as Celebrity Masterchef and Pointless. She's now a tele and radio presenter, as well as a yogini.
2005 - Love Island: Jayne Middlemiss
Following her stint on Love Island, Jayne has continued presenting and she won Celebrity MasterChef in 2009.
2005 - Celebrity Love Island - Fran Cosgrave
Fran Cosgrave, who is the former Westlife bodyguard, went on to land his own spin-off TV show alongside Calum Best and Paul Danan, before releasing his autobiography in 2006. Fran dated Atomic Kitten singer Natasha Hamilton, with the pair welcoming a son together, but they've since split. Fran has now since taken a step back from the world of showbiz
As far as we can tell, he now does up pretty bad a** cars and hires them out for bad a** events. Neither us nor our researchers speak car, but hopefully that makes sense. He's also a DJ under the name Futuristic Polar Bears.
2005 - Love Island: Fran Cosgrave
Nowadays Fran is a music producer and has 73 million Spotify listens and 100 million views on YouTube. He's also performed all over the word and often posts photos of cars on his Instagram.
2006 - Celebrity Love Island - Calum Best
Despite being on the show in 2005, Calum Best re-entered the Celebrity Love Island villa in 2006, this time winning the show alongside Geordie girl Bianca Gascoigne.
2006 - Celebrity Love Island - Calum Best
Since leaving the villa in 2006, Calum has kept himself in the spotlight, appearing on a number of other shows such as Celebrity Big Brother and Famously Single. He also appeared on Celebrity Ex On The Beach in 2019. In 2021, Calum worked on a documentary about his late father, George Best, titled George Best: True Genius. He is also the Chairman of Dorking Wanderers FC Ladies, which we love to see.
2006 - Celebrity Love Island - Bianca Gascoigne
Entering the Celebrity Love Island villa as a glamour model in 2006, Bianca won the show alongside Calum Best.
2006 - Celebrity Love Island - Bianca Gascoigne
Although nothing materialised romantically between Bianca and Calum outside of the show, the model went on to achieve success, appearing on shows such as Gladiators, Celebrity Big Brother and Celebrity Coach Trip. She even auditioned for The X Factor in 2012. In May 2021, Bianca split from Katie Price's ex-boyfriend Kris Boyson after a year of dating. She also appeared on the Italian version of Strictly in 2021 and performs as a DJ under the name Bianca Jade.
2015 - Love Island: Jess Hayes and Max Morley
When Love Island returned to our TV screens in 2015, Jess Hayes and Max Morley were crowned the winners, taking home a massive £50,000 each. Just 40 days after leaving the villa, the pair split up, leaving viewers of the show heartbroken. It goes to show, you get over these things, as we'd forgotten that.
2015 - Love Island: Jess Hayes
Despite splitting from Max, a few years later, Jess found true happiness with her boyfriend Dan Lawry. The pair welcomed their first child together in 2019, a baby boy called Presley James Lawry.
2015 - Love Island: Max Morley
Max has kept himself relatively out of the spotlight since he won the show, but in 2019 he was dating Love Island 2018 star Laura Anderson... This soon fizzled out. In November 2021, Max became a dad for the first time after his son was born.
2016 - Love Island: Cara de la Hoyde and Nathan Massey
If you could print pictures in the diary, we'd put these two next to the word 'legend'. After coupling up on day one of Love Island 2016, it was love at first sight for Cara de la Hoyde and Nathan Massey, who went on to beat Olivia Buckland and Alex Bowen in the series two final.
2016 - Love Island: Cara de la Hoyde and Nathan Massey
Despite splitting for a short period, Cara and Nathan rekindled their romance after discovering Cara was expecting the couple's first baby. After Cara gave birth to baby Freddie, Nathan then proposed to Cara back in the Love Island villa, with the pair getting married in 2019. Cara and Nathan then welcomed their second child, a baby girl called Delilah, in August 2020. They are still together today and remain one of Love Island's major success stories.
2017 - Love Island: Kem Cetinay and Amber Davies
It didn't take long for Kem Cetinay and Amber Davies to couple up on Love Island series three, with the pair going on to win the show ahead of Chris Hughes and Olivia Attwood. Despite this, the pair ended their romance just before Christmas 2017, but they have remained good friends.
2017 - Love Island: Kem Cetinay
As well as landing a record deal with his Love Island BFF Chris Hughes (and a TV show), Kem appeared on Dancing On Ice and then went on to join This Morning as a showbiz reporter. In 2019 he was also unveiled as Primark's first ever male ambassador. Kem also took part in Soccer Aid in 2021 and 2022, playing for The Rest of the World. Oooh, and he also owns a swanky restaurant in Essex. So, tbh, he's the definition of a male influencer and if you hate it, you're jel.
2017 - Love Island: Amber Davies
Despite being romantically linked with the likes of Chris Clark and Liam Payne, Amber remained single since her split from Kem, until she went public with her new boyfriend in October 2020. They've since split and she's now dating her co-star Ben Joyce. Since her Love Island stint, she's landed her dream role in Dolly Parton's West End musical 9 To 5 alongside the likes of Louise Redknapp, she's also played the lead role in musical Bring It On and she's also set to join the West End cast of Back to the Future: The Musical at the Adelphi in London.
2018 - Love Island: Jack Fincham and Dani Dyer
The nation fell in love with Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham when they coupled up and won Love Island in 2018. Despite high hopes for the couple, Dani and Jack announced they'd split up in April 2019.
2018 - Love Island: Dani Dyer
Just weeks after her split from Jack, Dani started dating her ex-boyfriend Sammy Kimmence, and the pair welcomed a baby boy called Santiago into the world in January 2021. However, in July 2021 Dani split from Sammy after he was jailed for three years. As well as this, the reality star has allegedly made more than £1 million since she left the villa, with various clothing deals, Instagram posts and her own eyelash product. Dani also appeared in EastEnders in June 2021, joining her dad Danny Dyer. She's now dating West Ham and England footballer Jarod Bowen.
2018 - Love Island: Jack Fincham
After his split from Dani, Jack joined the cast of series seven of Celebs Go Dating, in an attempt to find his perfect girl. Jack has also teamed up with brands like McDonald's and Protein World. In 2020, Jack announced he'd become a dad after a brief romance with his friend Casey Ranger resulted in the pair welcoming a baby girl called Blossom. In June 2021, Jack confirmed he was dating TOWIE star Frankie Sims, but this soon fizzled out.
2019 - Love Island: Amber Gill and Greg O'Shea
After getting her heart broken by Michael Griffiths, Amber Gill was swept off her feet when Irish hunk Greg O'Shea entered the villa with just two weeks to go. Despite only knowing each other for 12 days, Greg and Amber were crowned winners of the 2019 series, beating Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae for the Love Island crown. Unfortunately, the pair split just five weeks after leaving the villa, with Amber going on to secure a £1 million clothing line deal with Miss Pap.
2019 - Love Island: Greg O'Shea
Greg returned to Ireland to complete his Law degree and play rugby. He also took part in the Tokyo Olympics for Ireland.
2019 - Love Island: Amber Gill
Amber has been on Loose Woman, she's a Twitter goddess and an author #goals.
2020 - Winter Love Island: Paige Turley and Finn Tapp
Paige Turley and Finn Tapp were the first ever winners of Winter Love Island at the start of 2020. The pair fell in love quickly in the villa and they've since moved in together.
2022 - Love Island: Paige Turley and Finn Tapp
They survived various UK lockdowns and are still together today absolutely slaying the game.
2021 - Love Island: Millie Court and Liam Reardon
Despite their hiccup during Casa Amor week, Essex girl Millie and Welsh lad Liam totally fell for each other in the villa. During the final, Liam asked Millie to be his official girlfriend. However the couple went on to announce their split in July 2022.
2021 - Love Island: Millie Court
As the winner of Love Island 2021, single Millie is now naturally slaying the influencer game. Mille runs her own successful YouTube channel where she covers fashion, lifestyle and beauty.
2021 - Love Island: Liam Reardon
Former bricklayer Liam is now a model and influencer.
2022 - Love Island: Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and Davide Sanclimenti
Ekin-Su and Davide were a hilarious couple and lived their very own enemies to lovers romance during their time in the villa. The couple are still together and have just moved in together.
After eight seasons we might not have as many successful relationships as we would love but the ones that are still together are thriving. Not to mention this is just the winners, Dom and Jess anyone? Alex and Olivia? Mere runner ups and those couple now have ACTUAL BABIES.
We are hoping that Ekin-Su and Davide will follow in their very cute footsteps, not only have they just moved in together but they also have a brand new TV show, Ekin-Su and Davide: Homecomings, safe to say they're on track.
Winter Love Island returns to our screens in 2023 and here is to hoping for a Cara and Nathan winning couple and not a Jess and Max.