How to nail a Love Island application and audition, by ex-Islanders

‘Don’t be a Molly-Mae’ 😬

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Applications are always open for Love Island, but the application and audition process is notoriously difficult to nail – with over 100,000 hopefuls sending off to be on the show in the past.

The process is gruelling – contestants must fill out a form with their bad habits, likes and dislikes and about their taste in someone to date. They also have to send in an audition video and there’s a round of telephone interviews before around 1,000 people get through to the final rounds and end up being auditioned by the producers. So, how the hell are you meant to make yourself stand out?

We asked a bunch of ex-Islanders how to nail the Love Island application and audition process and found times when Islanders have spoken about it previously – here’s what they had to say.

‘Don’t put pressure on yourself and focus on what makes you different’

How to nail a Love Island application and audition and impress producers by ex-Islanders

via Instagram @sharongaffka

You should use the audition process to come across as yourself and be natural with no pressure, according to 2021 Islander Sharon Gaffka. She told The Tab: “A lot of people when they apply put a lot of pressure on themselves because they want it so bad. Because I didn’t, I just came across as myself. I was surprised every stage further I got into the show. I was just like, ‘I can’t believe this is happening’.”

Speaking of the one-minute video contestants have to submit, she said: “Contestants have stuff going on in their lives. There are other things about them that makes them different from other people and, in your application, you really should focus on that as opposed to why you want to be on the show.”

‘Don’t be a Molly-Mae’

Savagely, 2022 winners Ekin-Su and Davide have said one of their top tips for nailing a Love Island audition is to not be like 2019’s Molly-Mae Hague. “I’ve got the best advice for anyone applying now,” Ekin-Su said in an interview. “Don’t copy past Love Islanders, don’t try and be a Molly-Mae, don’t try and be an Amber Davies, don’t try and be a Tommy Fury.

“Be you. Be authentic on the application and don’t worry about sounding fancy. If you like eating doughnuts with salmon, write that. People like quirky personalities, you don’t want to fake it. You can only hide that mask for two days and it falls off.” Davide echoed Ekin-Su, adding “don’t go for the fame, just go because you genuinely want to find someone”.

‘Use your best assets’

via Instagram @lauraanderson1x

2018 star Laura Anderson credits her one-minute video to getting on the show. She did a documentary style day-in-the-life video from Dubai. “I just used my best assets, I had to really think about what makes me different because I knew they must want individuals,” she told RadioTimes.

“My job was interesting, and also that I’m Scottish but lived in Dubai. So I just used that in my video initially. Although I had a good life in Dubai, I felt I wasn’t moving forward and I knew it wasn’t forever. I’m so glad I took the leap of faith and just applied for the show, it’s definitely paid off.”

Have some good stories about yourself

How to nail a Love Island application and audition and impress producers by ex-Islanders

via Instagram @scott.thomas

During the interview process, Love Island hopefuls are invited to ITV offices to chat to producers. Season two Islander, Scott Thomas, said in an interview his top tip here is to have some good stories about yourself ready. The more wild the better, you want the casting team to take notice, after all.

“It’s a dead relaxed and chilled process,” he said. “They ask you about some of the crazier things you’ve done. The casting directors are definitely looking for people who will go in there and wear their heart on their sleeve.”

‘Have fun and flirt with the person who’s casting’

via Instagram @biggschrisx

It’s a dating show after all, so Casa Amor 2020 Islander Biggs Chris highly recommends getting your flirt on from the outset. “Don’t overthink, go in the audition with high hopes, and remember it’s normal to be nervous – we are human beings,” he told The Tab. “Don’t worry about making mistakes, go in and smash it, have fun and flirt with the person casting  – it always helps, that’s what I did!”

Be yourself

Lots of Islanders have echoed the same message with their top tips to nail the Love Island application process – to simply be yourself. Winter Islander Biggs told The Tab this is his number one tip for any hopeful contestant. “I can’t stress this enough,” he said. “If you’re a bad boy, keep this energy for the audition and the show and if you’re chilled or a quiet person keep that energy – don’t be someone you’re not, not being yourself will come across as fake.”

How to nail a Love Island application and audition and impress producers by ex-Islanders

via Instagram @libertypoolex

Sharing on her Instagram story her top tips for having a successful audition process for Love Island, 2021 favourite Liberty Poole said you need to be “unapologetically yourself”. “To be fair, I mean, just be yourself. Like, I am an absolute nutter and they liked it,” she posted. She urged hopefuls to have fun and get creative. “With me, I did a Peri-o-meter because I worked at Nando’s so it still showed who I was, but in a different way,” she said. “And just have fun with it and don’t be too serious. And then I was like glamour queen by night and marketing student by day and I switched outfits, and I was just myself.”

Laura Anderson added: “I think you just have to be genuine because the camera never lies. You can’t plan for whether you’re liked or not.”

Don’t take it too seriously

via Instagram @theo_campbell91

Season three’s Theo Campbell added that you need to not be afraid to take the piss out of the process, and even the show. “I just flipped it round and ended up interviewing the girls interviewing me,” he told RadioTimes. “I convinced them both that they’d been cheated on. They asked me what I’d do if I’d won the money. I said pay off all my parking tickets. If there was any money left over, I’d put them aside for more parking tickets. I was only messing with them, but I guess I made an impression there. I just had a laugh and was myself. I had no real intention of going on the show at the time.”

‘Don’t do it how I did it – I cried the whole way through!’

How to nail a Love Island application and audition and impress producers by ex-Islanders

via Instagram @faye__winter

Speaking on her Instagram story, 2021’s Faye Winter told anyone looking to apply to just not do it how she did. She went on to explain her application and interview process, saying: “I had my first interview, was a bit of a hard-faced cow then I had to have a second one with a different casting researcher because they wanted to see a softer side of me and I cried the whole way through it.

“But he could see I was as soft as a fucking Mr Whippy ice cream. So then I went to meet the execs and I think they could all see I was soft as shit.” She then concluded she was “so soft but I had such a hard exterior and didn’t want to let anyone in”. She said her top tip for the interview is “be as open and honest as you can be.”

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