From Jess to Toni: All 24 winners of Love Island, ranked from worst to best

Love Island has been crowning winners since 2015, and in that time we’ve seen such a variation of Islanders take the win. Sometimes it’s been the ones we’ve all wanted, and sometimes it’s been the ones the Facebook mums wanted. And that’s okay. That’s life. It actually makes my job more interesting, because when the noble role gets thrust into my lap that it’s my time to rank every single winner in the history of the show, we truly have the gamut of heroes and villains. With that in mind, here’s a definitive ranking of all the winners in Love Island history – from the early days of Max and Jess right up to Toni and Cach.

Not including All Stars or Games. They’re spin-offs and I won’t be taking further questions on this important distinction.

22. Jack Fincham

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Quite liked him on the show, but his behaviour after the season finished has truly solidified him as one of the worst winners the general public ever gave money to.

21. Sammy Root

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Truly unbearable, sickeningly smug – nothing changed when he came back for All Stars either.

20. Jess and Max

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Iconic that they were the first ever winners of Love Island, but can’t put them too high up the ranking because I fear they won the show before Love Island truly became legendary.

19. Paige Turley

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Paige won the first ever winter Love Island and honestly, nothing was iconic about that season and I think we all collectively just sort of barely remember it exists.

18. Finn Tapp

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Won with Shauna and that’s all I can really say. We’re in that part of the Love Island winners ranking where people are just sort of there. I wish him well in all his endeavours but he was hardly TV gold let’s be real.

17. Greg O’Shea

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Greg seems like a really nice bloke, but I do fear he won this show mainly because he was with Amber Gill. People really loved Amber and wanted to see her thrive, and Greg came in as a late bombshell and managed to win it all with her. Not too shabby.

16. Dani Dyer

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Made headlines when cast because she’s the daughter of Danny Dyer. The first Love Island nepo baby to win Love Island, and when ranking her amongst other winners I feel like the more seasons we get the more she sort of slips down the ranking. Seems like a really lovely girl but just isn’t really thriving with a big legacy these days – and fair play, she won the show eight seasons ago.

15. Jess Harding

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I actually did really like Jess on her season of Love Island, but we ALL want Whitney and Lochan to win. I mean, maybe not now with everything that’s gone down – but back then, we did. Truly a Facebook mum victory, but I don’t think Jess was a villain – it was Sammy who made the toes curl. Hasn’t really had much dominating impact since she won, though.

14. Josh Oyinsan

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Mimii and Josh didn’t last but we do have to bow down simply because his part in the victory meant a true win over the Facebook mums for once. No winning for Nicole and Ciaran. And for that, we thank him.

13. Nathan Massey

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You had to be there, guys. In season two, Nathan was just bloody lovely. Love Island back then was just so raw and real, and watching Nathan and Cara fall in love was gorgeous. They truly deserved to win and the fact that they’re still married, with kids and in love today proves it. Sometimes it’s nice just seeing this show work in the way it was actually intended to.

12. Amber Davies

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Birthed the iconic meme of her eyes flaring wilder than a burning star when someone dared to recouple with Kim, she was a big character. I also love that her career since Love Island has just been her following her training in performing arts to become a genuinely credible West End darling.

11. Cara De La Hoyde

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Cara was one of those Islanders that was always just quietly great. Never at the scene of the crime, always had everyone on her side. Such a deserving winner and a lovely person. I always remember being absolutely GAGGED at her talent show where she did her circus tricks.

10. Liam Reardon

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Right, kicking off the top 10 ranking of Love Island winners with one I have been so up and down with. I never forgave Liam at the time for how much he hurt Millie, but I’m going to have to concede and say he has redeemed himself. They’re clearly very into each other and he always comes across like such a nice lad on the podcast. Randomly really funny too.

9. Mimii Ngulube

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A winner who we all wanted that we never thought would actually win it. Dreams do come true. Always came across as a truly amazing person.

8. Kem Cetinay

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Truly the golden age of Love Island – and honestly should have won with Chris Hughes in hindsight. The best couple of that season. When this era of Love Island was happening, it didn’t even matter if you were winners or not or featured in this ranking because the career was GUARANTEED. But Kem really did deserve it. He was great TV, a good laugh and now thrives with the endless collections at Primark. And fair play, I got a lovely suit from his range for a summer wedding that I got loads of compliments on. Cheers mate.

7. Millie Court

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A winner who we always want the best for. She won with Liam even when everyone was fuming at him for how he treated her because we loved her that much. Since the show, she’s just remained popular and is always on the right side of history. Also just always remember her clothes SLAPPING every time in the villa.

6. Amber Gill

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Love Island doesn’t deserve Amber Gill. A winner of the people, and an Islander who now it’s weird to imagine ever on the show. Since winning, Amber has distanced herself a lot – and came out as a lesbian. I would follow her and her endeavours to the end of the world. Just a proper icon.

5. Davide Sanclimenti

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One of the most hilarious characters to ever be on television. The world yearns for an All Stars resurgence.

4. Kai and Sanam

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Just missing out on a podium finish for this Love Island winners ranking are the happiest couple to ever be on the show. Honestly, they just mind their business and stay happy and I adore that for them. They just got engaged in real life. As Love Island over the years came more about boosting an influencing career than finding love, it’s just been glorious to see such authentic happiness thrive.

3. Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu

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When you think of bombshell, the only name in your mind should be Ekin-Su. She was born to be on reality TV, and whilst I’m less than thrilled with her Celebrity Big Brother carry on in more recent years I do think she’s absolutely amazing and kind of single-handedly made me care about Love Island again in 2022. I absolutely adore her and think she’s a permanent icon. When she won it was like we’d won the World Cup.

2. Cach Mercer

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One of the greatest boys to ever enter the Love Island villa. Scratch that, he IS the greatest guy to ever go into Love Island and he deserves to be right by the top of this winners ranking. He was maybe the most exemplary example of a great communicator we’ve ever seen on the show and not only that but he was a laugh. Truly great vibes. Love him so much and so happy for his success.

1. Toni Laites

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God, what a victory. I cannot believe an American is my fave ever Love Island winner – but it’s true. She dominated this year’s Love Island season so hard that I don’t even think this top ranking is even a recency bias situation. She managed to be a great Islander who was involved in drama, overcome hardships and always remain someone you want to root for. Absolutely adore her and can’t wait to see just how famous she gets off the show.

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