The wages of the Love Island 2023 cast before the show prove they don’t need the £50k prize

Love Island often makes people rich – but the wages the Love Island 2023 cast had before the villa prove most of them were doing just fine without the prospect of a £50k prize fund and brand deals being thrown at them.

The Islanders have a range of jobs this year – from gas engineers and project managers, to business owners and social media influencers. These all have varying average salaries across the UK.

Price comparison site idealo.co.uk has delved into the career histories of this year’s contestants, to reveal who was making the most money before the show. Average salaries have been sourced from Indeed and Glass Door and confirmed by a recruitment specialist – here’s what was found.

12. Molly Marsh – £26,209

Starting us off with the lowest wage is Molly, who before the villa was working as a social media influencer and theatre performer. Molly has appeared in Pantomime before, and even once got invited to the Love Island villa as a content creator.

On average, actors can earn around £26,209 per year in the UK, but now her social media following has sky-rocketed, it’s believed she could charge thousands for posts on Instagram.

11. Mitchel Taylor – £40,000

Mitchel is a gas engineer, a career which on average in the UK has a salary of £40k.

10. Lochan Nowacki – £41,377

Ahead of being in the villa, Lochan was working as an account manager in Berkshire. According to Checkasalary, the average salary in this area for this job role is just over £41k.

9. Leah Taylor – £42,124

Leah runs her own social media marketing agency in Manchester, which could be earning her £42,124 at present. She’s also an influencer herself, so probably has some more cash coming in from the side hustle.

8. Catherine Agbaje – £46,667

Ahead of entering the villa, Catherine said she works in real estate and has two degrees. One of her degrees is from the University of Greenwich, a Master’s in real estate development and investment. Catherine now works in commercial real estate, with an average salary of £46,667.

7. Sammy Root – £46,803

22-year-old project manager Sammy Root is based in Kent, and is already expected to be earning £46,803 a year with his current job – a hefty wage considering how young he is.

6. Mehdi Edno – £47,315

Up next is Mehdi, who works as a model, and communications manager. He is is estimated to earn around £47,315 a year from this.

5. Jess Harding – £47,527

Jess is an aesthetics practitioner and has her own business, West London clinic Candy Aesthetics. Jess is listed as the CEO of her business, and started the botox hustle in 2021. Her clinic offers loads of treatments, including lip fillers (up to £180), jaw line contouring (£230) and fat dissolving (up to £550). Her average salary could be around the £47,500 mark.

4. Ella Thomas – £50,000

Fashion model Ella was named female model of the year at the Scottish media awards before Love Island, and aside from modelling, she appeared in a music video and was even an extra in the film World War Z. As a model she could be earning up to £50k a year and her extra work could bring in some extra cash, too.

3. Ouzy See – £50,000

Also working as a model, Ouzy could expect a yearly income of around £50k. According to Checksalary, models in Edinburgh make this figure on average. On top of his modelling wage, Ouzy’s also a footballer, which is definitely bringing in more cash, too.

2. Zachariah Noble – £50,833

Before the villa, Zach had two main sources of income as a personal trainer and a semi-pro basketball player. It’s been estimated his career as a semi professional basketball player for Worcester Wolves could be earning him around £20,833 a year, and his work as a personal trainer could add on an extra £30k.

1. Whitney Adebayo – £58,625

Whitney has her own business, selling luxury wigs. Before Love Island, Whitney launched her wig business during her second year of university, and called it Candy Corner. She is now said to be earning just shy of £60k – making hers the highest of all the Love Island 2023 cast’s wages.

Love Island 2023 is on ITV2 and ITVX. 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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