‘It’s dog-eat-dog’: What it’s like being a bombshell on Love Island, from those who’ve done it

One thing that makes Love Island the show that it is, is the drama it creates when bombshells walk through the door to cause some chaos in the villa. During the 2022 summer series, 26 bombshells entered the villa and only two managed to get to the final and ended up being the winners of the show.

Being a bombshell on Love Island may seem easy, it can be incredibly difficult fitting in and making a splash when everyone is all coupled up and happy. Fiver former bombshells from previous seasons have all opened up about what it’s like being on the show. Fancy your shot at Love Island with possibly being a bombshell, here’s some advice from those who have done it all before.

Billy Brown

via Instagram @billybrown11

Billy Brown was a Casa Amor bombshell, part of the bombshell cohort who are really meant to shake things up in the villa. Billy was brought back to the main villa by Tasha but their relationship did not blossom as she recoupled with Andrew shortly after. In a recent interview with OK Magazine, Billy opened up about how “stressful” it is being in Casa Amor because “you hardly have any time to actually think about how you’re feeling.”

He continued to say: “The hard thing is that the girls already have a place in the main villa so they can play it cool because they’re safe and they already have a couple – it’s the bombshells who are fighting for their place and that’s the pressure.”

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When the boys first entered the Casa Amor villa, Billy described the atmosphere as “so on edge” and it felt as though they boys has “intruded on the girls’ space and had suddenly entered their house without being invited.”

Billy has since said he has no regrets about going on Love Island when he did, but if he were to go on it again he would want to go in “closer to the beginning”. “Going in halfway is very dog-eat-dog and you’ve only got three days to find the one.”

Adam Collard

via Instagram @adamcollard

Adam Collard made Love Island history when he re-entered the villa as a bombshell for a second time. Adam was an early on bombshell when he first appeared on the show but this time round he had to complain about the “relentless” quizzing from other Islanders about what was happening on the outside world.

Speaking to The Sun, Adam said he had to complain to the producers about other Islanders. “Every single morning all of the Islanders would ask how many Instagram followers I had and how many they had, stuff like that. I literally just said it’s the one thing I’ve been told not to tell,” he said.

Adam said he was asked “a lot of questions” by the other cast members, whether it be about Instagram followers, brand deals or what it’s like after leaving the villa. He said: “The boys were a nightmare because boys are boys, so they’re like ‘right, who’s got the most and who’s got this and have you seen my sister run on my Instagram and this and that? It was just relentless.”

Savanna Darnell

via Instagram @_savannadarnell

Savanna Darnell was Casa Amor bombshell on the fourth season of Love Island in 2018. She explained the part she disliked the most about being a bombshell was the isolation period before entering the villa. In a YouTube video, Savanna said she would “never forget the experience”.

She said: “No phone, no access to the outside world, no TV, some days you can’t even leave the hotel in case you cross paths with the other Islanders. I was going crazy every day because I didn’t know when I was going in.” Savanna says she was told that although she wasn’t going to be an original Islander, she would be one of the first bombshells to be on the show.

“I spent three weeks at home, doing absolutely nothing. I didn’t want to leave my bed and my mum was really worried about it. The whole three weeks were horrendous,” she added.

Danica Taylor

via Instagram @_danicataylor

Danica is a bombshell no one can ever forget. From making her entrance in a clam shell to being shut out by pretty much everyone and still holding her head high, Danica will forever be one of the most cherished Islanders of all time.

Opening up about her preparations for being a bombshell, Danica said she flew out to Mallorca before the show even began and knew she was going to be a bombshell. An hour before her entrance is when she was told she’d be going into the villa. She said: “It got closer and closer to me going on the show and it was literally one hour before meeting the Islanders that they said, ‘you’re going to be in on a challenge and this is what you’re going to be doing.’ It was literally only an hour before.”

When Danica was shown to be the bombshell in the clam, she revealed everything viewers saw on TV was all done in one take. “I smashed it thought not going to lie,” she added.

Coco Lodge

via Instagram @coco_lodge

Coco Lodge is another bombshell no one will ever be able to forget. Coco was saved by Andrew Le Page after she coupled up with him during Casa Amor, but she had the same fate as Billy as Tasha and Andrew recoupled.

Coco has said after she left the villa, she couldn’t find it in her to get back into the dating scene and “didn’t even talk to a boy for six months”. She said: “When I first came out, I was classed as ‘the ugly one’ so I didn’t have many people in my DMs and there wasn’t much going for me. I didn’t speak to anyone until the start of this year, I’ve been sitting at home with my dog like an old lady, living the single life.”

Jay Younger

via Instagram @jayyounger_

Jay Younger was part of Love Island history when Ekin-Su crawled to him on the terrace in Love Island 2022. In an interview with Ice 36, Jay has opened up about what it’s really like during the recouplings and how bombshells who enter the villa late, don’t have the best chance on the show.

Jay was asked about how much of the series he gets to watch before entering the vill and he said bombshells can watch “up to one episode behind what you guys were watching at home.” He said: “I was delayed, but I was allowed to watch all the episodes so I got to know all the contestants in the villa, their names, what they looked like and how they were going to be like before going in.”

When it comes to being a bombshell on Love Island, “its all down to timing”, according to Jay. If you enter the villa as a bombshell early on, there is a better chance to get to know someone unlike bombshells who enter the show later on.

“In our series, there were four new bombshells that came in during the last week, they were never going to get a chance. Timing is really important,” he added.

Love Island 2023 continues at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX. For all the latest Love Island news and gossip and for the best memes and quizzes, like The Holy Church of Love Island on Facebook.

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Featured image credit via Instagram @coco_lodge, @_danicataylor and @jayyounger_.