An ex-islander has revealed the details of this year’s secret smoking area

After finding out today that Laura escaped the villa to chain smoke cigarettes on a beach, alone, the Love Island smoking rules have been the source of much debate. The smoking area of any club, bar or villa is the mecca for gossip and drama alike. Big decisions, confirmations and impressions are made, all of which we've missed from Love Island this season.

Last year's Love Island season generated so many complaints through Ofcom that ITV2 made an executive decision to axe the smoking area and scenes of the gossip. Many complaints focused on the influence of the show on young viewers and that the show would be endorsing smoking if it continued to display it.

We can now reveal, exclusively from our chain smoker ex-Islander source, the dirty secrets of the whole debate surrounding smoking in this season's competition. A lot has changed after last year's show, with many details hidden from regular viewers, and it has us shook.

Each member can only have 10 cigarettes per day

Where the limit last year was 200 cigarettes per day (even as a non-smoker), they've dragged it down to 10 to focus on filming. It eliminated distraction and content they may have missed, but crucially left out the juicy goss that made Love Island the reality show of 2017.

If they want to smoke, they need to wave to a specific cigarette camera which gets edited out

As well as all the other cameras on the villa, people had to wave to a specific cigarette camera to show they wanted to smoke. A specific camera was installed away from the filming sets that was pointed out in every set and scene, which potentially indicates that a lot of the footage captured featured awkward hand waves.

If they don't wave at the camera, they get a 24 hour cigarette ban

If any members decided to just walk into the smoking area without waving at the camera or signalling to crew, they immediately received a 24 hour ban on smoking. This is the most strict rule of reality TV so far against smoking, and peak for any chain smokers.

Only one person is allowed to smoke at a time

Everyone knows that smoking by yourself is no fun. But this is what recent Love Island contestants have had to endure, smoking by themselves in a separate outside area away from the action. There must have been spats when two people waved at the same time.

Ex-Love Islanders are shocked at the serious rule

Olivia Attwood, creator of influential term 'dick sand', has been vocal about her disagreement with the current rules to ex-islanders out of the villa. She said that the 30 cig habit of many islanders last year united people as a group, which potentially felt distant from this year's season.

ITV2 have been very careful to make sure the show does not endorse smoking, but at the expense of gossip we all miss.

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