These are the Islanders who went back to their day jobs after being on the show

For some, Love Island is a springboard into becoming rich and famous and never looking back at your old life. You can say goodbye to 9-5 office jobs and hello to clothing lines, sponsorship deals and making money from Instagram. But for some Love Island contestants, their day jobs are a much better option for post-Island life.

That’s doesn’t necessarily mean Love Island didn’t work out for them, a lot of these Islanders did really well on the show and probably could have made a living off the back of it. But instead, all of these Love Island stars decided to return to their day jobs after being on the show.

Malin Anderson

Malin, who appeared on Love Island 2016, is a trained elderly and palliative carer. She said she had gone back to her job being a carer for the elderly and terminally ill. She said on Twitter: “I can’t sit at home on my own anymore knowing I have training within the sector. My heart hurts for them, and if I can give something more then what I’m doing – then I am satisfied.” She then added: “First shift complete. My heart feels full. So so full.”

Rachel Fenton

Rachel Fenton appeared on series two of Love Island, in 2016. After being on the show she went back to her job as an orthopaedic nurse. She’s been working throughout the pandemic.

Adam Maxted

When Adam appeared on series two of Love Island in 2016, the wrestler was quite unlucky in love. But he’s since gone back to his job as a pro-wrestler and is also working as a personal trainer.

Nathan Massey

Nathan won the second series of Love Island alongside Cara, who he is still with, but has since revealed that just six months after the show he went back to his day job. Speaking on his podcast, Learning As I Go, Nathan said: “When I won Love Island, standing up there with Caroline and Cara and when she said them words, I thought ‘that’s it, I never have to go back on a building site ever again’, but how wrong I was.”

He said he later won best male personality at the National Television Awards, but months later his agent told him “nobody wants to pursue you guys any more” which he said “hurt” and left him feeling “ashamed”. He went back to work with his dad.

Harley Judge

Harley was on the show in 2017 when he had a brief coupling up with Amber Davies, before she chose Kem and it was the end of the road for him. When Harley left the series he went back to a regular 9-5, working as an estate agent in his hometown of Norwich.

Theo Campbell

Theo had a very interesting career before the villa, so it’s no surprise that when his stint on Love Island 2017 came to end he was one of the Islanders who went back to their day jobs. Theo was a professional athlete, and after the villa confirmed he was back training.

Amber Davies

It’s no doubt that winning Love Island 2017 helped take Amber Davies’ career to new heights. Before appearing on Love Island, Amber said she was a dancer, and she had also worked as an entertainer as part of London’s circus themed club night Cirque Le Soir. Amber is now back to entertaining, performing in theatre.

Dr Alex George

Love Island 2018’s Alex George returned to work as an A&E doctor in Lewisham, London, just months after being in the show. He worked long shifts during the coronavirus outbreak, and is now a mental health ambassador advising the government.

Anna Vakili

Love Island 2019’s Anna Vakili worked as a pharmacist before she entered the villa. Early on in the pandemic, she announced on Instagram that she was going back to her old day job. She said: “First day back working as a pharmacist since leaving Love Island. It’s been almost a whole year! Wow can’t believe how fast it’s gone. Wasn’t really planning on registering yet but with everything that’s going on it felt wrong not to. We can all fight this together. Stay safe. Stay home. Save lives.”

Greg O’Shea

Greg won Love Island 2019 with Amber, but the couple split after just a few weeks. Greg then seemed to go out of the public eye completely, probably because he was heading back to work. The Irish rugby player went back to playing alongside his Sevens teammates, as they trained for the Tokyo Olympics. The games were postponed because of the pandemic, but Greg played for his team when they finally went ahead.

Georgia Townend

Georgia was a blink and you’ll miss it addition to the Love Island 2021 villa. And shortly after the series drew to a close, the marketing executive announced she was heading back to her old job – which is at the supermarket Lidl.

Speaking to Grazia about why she wanted her old job back, she said: “During Love Island, I was on sabbatical from work, with the intention always being that I would return to my job. I’m very career-driven and have invested a huge amount of time and dedication into building my career, I’ve climbed the corporate ladder, and my career continues to be very important to me.”

Priya Gopaldas

Medical student and NHS worker Priya appeared on Love Island 2021 and then went back to the frontline just weeks later. Posting a pic in her scrubs on Instagram, she said: “Back to medical school and doing what I love 💗 feels so good to be back on wards after the huge impact COVID-19 had on our training.”

Faye Winter

When Faye was announced as one of the original Love Island 2021 cast members, she said she was taking a sabbatical from her job as a lettings manager. After leaving the villa she returned to her home town of Devon and said she wanted to go back to her old job. In an interview with Grazia, Faye said of the first things she did when getting her phone back was message her previous boss to ask about her job. Since then, Faye has taken her property career to the next level and has launched her own property empire, Faye Home.

Liam Reardon

Despite winning the 2021 show, Liam has said he’s going back to his routes with his job. He’s reportedly “quit fame”, and wants to renovate homes back in his home of Wales. He said: “I loved being a brickie before winning Love Island so I want to go into the property business. I’ll start off in Wales because the house prices are a lot cheaper there. Plus that’s the area where I have all my mates in the same industry. There’s an electrician, plumber, carpenter. They can all help and get involved in the business. My dad is in the property business too so can give me advice and help out. He’s my inspiration for wanting to do it.”

Amy Day

Amy Day joined the Casa Amor cast of 2021, and has since revealed she’s going back to the job she had before she went on the show. Amy was a performer and actress but also worked as an estate agent pre-Love Island, and has said she continues to audition for roles, but is also going back to property work too. Amy became a full time estate agent during the pandemic, when theatres were shut and work in performing arts was tough.

Abigail Rawlings

A year after being on the show, Abigail revealed she had returned to her job as a tattoo artist. She posted a photo on Instagram showing off her new tattoo studio, which she has set up in a spare room in her home.

Coco Lodge

Straight after she left the villa, Coco said she’s “skint” and needed to go back to her day job. Speaking on the Reality with Will Njobvu podcast, Coco said she will look out for new opportunities after Love Island, but is heading back to one of the jobs she had before Love Island, a shot girl. “I’m actually going to go back to shot girling next week,” she said at the time. She said she does it through an agency, but will most likely be working at a student nightclub, watch out for her!

Paige Thorne

OG 2022 Islander Paige confirmed she was returning to her job as a paramedic just weeks after leaving the villa. Speaking on Lorraine, Paige went into detail on her next steps in her life following being thrusted into stardom. She said: “Personally for me, I’ve got a meeting to go back to paramedic work as well so that will be exciting. I saw an ambulance the other day with sirens on and I had serious FOMO. So I’m going to back into that a little bit and see what opportunities come from that.”

Adam Collard

Adam Collard, who left the villa with Paige, has also returned to his day job. Adam has been on Love Island twice, but since his second villa stint has headed back to working as a personal trainer.

Right up to entering the villa again, Adam had been working as a personal trainer and founded his own brand called Sculpt Fitness, where he charges up to £1890 for the “Sculpt in 60 Days Challenge” package. It includes one-to-one training sessions with him, a nutrition masterclass and weekly check-ins with Adam.

Billy Brown

Billy, who joined Casa Amor in 2022, said after the show he was going back to working as a builder. In a question and answer on Instagram, someone said: “So do you still have your normal job after love Island?” to which he replied: “Yes I do. I’m a roofer, a builder, in construction – as you can tell I am driving a van. And I’m in this,” as he paned the camera down, to show his work trousers.

Tanyel Revan

Ahead of her time in the 2023 villa, Tanyel worked at a hair salon in London. Since leaving, she’s posted videos of her working with clients, back at her job.

Jacques O’Neill

Rugby player Jacques has announced he’s back playing for the team he was at before his stint in the villa. In a joint post on Instagram, Castleford Tigers said “Welcome home, Jacques” and that he’s “back doing what he does best.”

Finley Tapp

Three years after winning the show with Paige, Finn announced he is heading back to his old job, returning to being a footballer. Posting on Instagram, he said: “Buzzing to have signed for Banbury Utd. Couldn’t be happier to finally get back to doing something I love doing. It’s been a long time coming to get the boots back on but I’m so pleased I did.”

Jack Fincham

A whole five years after winning the show alongside Dani Dyer, Jack Fincham has said he is back to his job as a pen salesman. Talking to The Sun, he admitted after he wasn’t able to handle his finances correctly, and said he has “been gradually falling to pieces since 2018… then the money ran out.”

He’s now back in the pen industry, working as an account manager, dealing with big name clients. He said he is “happier than ever” and it’s “amazing” to be back.

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