A breakdown of which cast members were scouted and who applied for Love Island 2023

A few Islanders were meant to be on previous seasons but got held back

1 year ago

As the years go on, it seems as though more and more Love Island cast members are scouted and less are revealed to have actually applied, with the 2023 Islanders definitely following this pattern.

Nobody is surprised now – the producers reach out to a crop of people on Instagram or out and about, and encourage them to apply, or help them to get on the show. Less and less people are getting onto the show completely organically.

But who from Love Island 2023 was scouted and who actually applied to take part? Here’s a breakdown of everything we know, and which Islanders have shared more about how they ended up in the villa.

Love Island 2023 cast members who were scouted and who applied for the show

via ITV

Some of the cast members were meant to be on previous seasons!

This year, it’s been revealed a couple of the cast members were meant to be on other seasons of the show, but ended up on this one instead. Catherine applied to be on the show, but actually for the winter series earlier this year. She was then asked to do the summer series instead.

“I tried out but it’s weird because it wasn’t for this season,” she said on The SHiiKANE podcast. “I was technically approached [this season] by producers, but I did [originally] try out the season before.”

Mitch has also said in an interview that he was flown out for the winter series, but didn’t get on. He said he is “good friends with some of the producers” who asked him to “try again” this year.

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Hmm we wonder who he would have coupled up with on winter #LoveIsland #mitch #EllaB

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It’s been reported Mitch did previously apply for the show three times, despite what he’s been saying in interviews. A source told MailOnline: “Mitch worked with a PR agency to help him write the best application and applied last summer. He was then offered a place on the winter series and flew out to South Africa but the producers weren’t able to get him the villa. Instead they offered him a place as an OG Islander this season.”

It should come as a surprise to nobody that ultimate bombshell and Love Island veteran Kady McDermott was scouted, but in a big twist, she was meant to be a bombshell in the 2022 series! Kady has revealed that two days ahead of the day she was meant to fly out to the 2022 villa, she was told the “narrative had changed” and Adam Collard was being sent out to rile up the boys instead.

via ITV

Which Love Island 2023 cast members actually applied to be on the show?

Catherine and Mitch applied for the show in the past and got the call up again, but bombshell Charlotte is the only known Islander who applied to be on the show this year, and ended up being on it. She said in a Q&A on Instagram that “random people” kept telling her to apply, and she didn’t expect to get a call back about her application. “But here I am!” she said.

via ITV

Who was scouted by producers?

As to be expected, a lot of the Islanders this year were scouted by producers to appear on the show. Jess, who went on to win the show, was scouted by producers – proving they clearly have a good eye for who will make a good Islander! Speaking to the press ahead of the show, Jess said: “So they actually scouted me, which is amazing. It was in January when I just got back from Thailand.

“I’d just been in Thailand for three weeks travelling and I was really happy with my life – mentally, financially, I was in a really good place and work was really good. Then they messaged me, but you know when you really want something, it doesn’t kind of happen, and so it was just taking each step when it comes and it just happened.”

via ITV

Despite this, Jess had tried to get on the show multiple times before. It’s been reported that before being successful, she had tried to get on the show for years, and even reached out to previous Islanders to ask for advice on how to get spotted. It clearly worked!

Another Islander who we are probably not shocked at all was scouted is Molly Marsh. She already had hundreds of thousands of TikTok followers before the show, and had been invited for a tour around the villa, as a content creator. A source revealed it was here where she was noticed.

They said: “Molly was scouted after visiting the villa in South Africa earlier this year. She was on the tour as an invited guest when she caught the eyes of producers. Molly made it clear she would love to be a part of Love Island and she was told to audition. After going through the process, she was a shoo-in to fly to Majorca.”

Finalist and 2023 OG Ella said she was first contacted by someone from Love Island five years ago – when she was just 18 – but felt too young at the time. Ruchee also admitted she was scouted to go on Love Island a few years ago, but at the time she turned down the opportunity. She also said she had felt too young, and was getting to know someone already when producers reached out to her.

Casa Amor girl Amber Wise, who made it back to the main villa with Sammy, was scouted via Instagram DM – but had a messy journey getting onto the show. At first, she was meant to be on the series as a bombshell much earlier on, but got food poisoning whilst in the holding villa before the show.

She was sent home, before producers asked her if she’d like to come back for Casa. Her dad, footballer Dennis Wise, told The Sun: “Amber was actually meant to be in earlier but she and her chaperone got food poisoning. So then she actually came home for a period and then they said, look we’d like you to go into Casa Amor.”