Exactly who from Love Island 2021 actually applied and who was scouted for the show

Despite getting record numbers of applications, it’s no surprise now that most of the Love Island cast are scouted to appear on the show and very little actually applied – with the 2021 cast being no different. On Love Island 2019, only six of the 36 contestants we met actually applied to be on the show, the rest were all approached by producers.

In an interview with Grazia, the original Love Island 2021 Islanders have spilled whether or not they applied or were scouted for the show. Winners Millie and Liam have gone into a little more depth in a Q&A on Instagram about getting onto the show. Here’s what they all had to say.

Who from Love Island 2021 applied to be on the show?

Out of the original line up, five applied to be on the show – Sharon, Jake, Hugo, Chloe and Toby. When Sharon Gaffka was applying, she admitted it was because all her friends were settling down and she was bored of dating apps. “It got to the stage where all of my friends aren’t married and in serious relationships, they’re all planning on having babies. And I was like I can’t deal with dating apps anymore, so I’m just going to take the plunge and see what happens,” she said.

Hugo Hammond said in an interview that he applied for the show “after a few drinks” which is so on brand for the Oxford Brookes grad, it hurts. “It was a cold winter’s night and I had one too many with my housemate,” he said. “We thought why don’t you [give it a go] and now six months later this laughing joke has got a little bit serious.”

Chloe Burrows is sort of in the middle, and had a very chaotic run-up to being on the show – which is so her. She originally applied, cancelled her application, then got approached for another ITV show and then was asked to go on Love Island. She was asked to appear on Ready To Mingle, but didn’t want to so chose Love Island instead. Her partner Toby clearly really wanted to get on the show, having applied not once but twice. “I actually applied for the show before Covid,” he said. “So last year, the one that didn’t go ahead, I applied for that. So I applied again, and luckily I’m here.”

Winner Millie Court said in an Instagram Q&A after winning the show that she applied to be on the series.

And who from this year’s cast was scouted?

Out of the original Islanders this year, six were approached by producers – Faye, Liberty, Kaz, Shannon, Aaron and Brad. Faye was approached for the show through Instagram, but says if she hadn’t been should would have applied anyway. Liberty Poole was also sent a DM about going on the show, but says this didn’t make it any easier for her. “I did get approached in my DMs, just asking if I would be interested. But I still had to go through the whole application process from start to finish in, there was no shortcut,” she said.

Lib’s best friend Kaz, who had a huge Instagram following already from being an influencer, was chatting to one of the casting people who said she should apply for the show. A similar thing happened to Shannon Singh, who said she was approached but still had to apply afterwards. Aaron Francis was also messaged on Instagram, as was Brad McClelland.

Liam Reardon, who won the show with Millie, was also among those who was scouted. In an Instagram Q&A alongside Millie he said he was working at Ocean Beach in Ibiza where he was scouted for the show. It turns out he was actually scouted for the show three times! Liam has said he was asked to go on the show back in 2019 and 2020, before finally going on Love Island this year.

Love Island 2021 saw the first contestant who was found through Tinder

This year saw the first time you could apply to be on the show through your Tinder account. One of these applications was actually successful – Harry Young who was in Casa Amor this year successfully made it onto the show having applied on the dating app.

Love Island 2021 and the reunion episode are available on demand on the ITVHub. 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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