From farmers to pageant stars: All the Islanders who were famous before joining the show

The ruse of Islanders coming onto the show solely to find love has largely been exposed. It’s almost guaranteed that the winners will always split the £50,000 prize in order to not appear as avaricious con artists but does that mean that they’re merely innocent singletons just looking for a life partner? Chances are slim.

The sudden lurch into a world of relevance and fame experienced by Islanders is obviously one of the biggest selling points for applying for the show, as well as the opportunity to see Craig David live in performance, obviously. Bucket list moments.

With the help of a few Subway advertisements here and there, Love Island alumni often blossom into fully established celebrities – but how many previous Islanders were famous before actually joining the show? A few, it seems. So, here are all the Islanders who were famous before joining the show:

Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu

Of 2022 Love Island fame, Ekin-Su is most well known for winning last year’s show with her now ex-boyfriend, Davide. Ekin literally stole the show and really quickly became a fan favourite, but towards the end of the show, clips of her acting in a Turkish TV soap resurfaced.

In 2020, Ekin portrayed the role of Işıl, a photographer from London, and can be seen snapping pictures on a beach in a black bandana and eyeliner. Some would say she was born for fame, others that her acting career isn’t over.

Adam Collard

Notoriously known as the Island Bombshell after being the first ever Islander to return to the show, Adam shook things up last summer when he arrived at the villa for round two. Unfortunately, he landed back at square one after splitting with Paige last year.

But the Geordie personal trainer has actually been on our screens before both his stints on Love Island. Despite claiming he turned down offers to star on Geordie Shore, Adam was spotted on an old episode of the series in a clip that circulated on Twitter.

Olivia Hawkins

From last year’s winter Love Island, Olivia Hawkins has been spotted multiple times on ITV as not only a model, but also an actress and dancer. She actually even appeared in the opening montage of the 2019 series alongside Joe Garratt, where she approached his food truck.

But that’s not even the wildest part – Olivia has also featured in Craig David’s music videos, is a body double for Michelle Keegan and even played a waitress in James Bond with Daniel Craig. And that’s not it; she’s featured multiple times in Eastenders, with fans spotting her in an episode back in January, and has even stood in for Emma Watson in the past. So it’s fair to say she’s got a seasoned career in entertainment.

Kady McDermott

Featuring on this summer’s season, Kady was the second Islander after Adam to make a surprise return to the show in a second attempt to find love. A fiery contestant, Kady really spiced up the season and brought the drama everyone expected from the show.

Kady and Scott finished third place together in the second season of Love Island back in 2016, before splitting after a year of living together in Manchester. After romances with Matty Cash and TOWIE star Myles Barnett, Kady returned to the villa this summer with purpose, singling out Zach, Tyrique and Mitch as potential partners before she entered. But ultimately, Kady left the 2023 villa with Ouzy after being kicked out by Whitney and Lochan.

Farmer Will Young

News of Farmer Will entering the villa was huge, as his 1.1 million TikTok followers celebrated their favourite sheep farmer gracing their screens every night. Loveable and eccentric, Will was loved by fans for sharing clips of him and his farm animals, notoriously the sheep, where he attempted to woo the ladies with his moves.

Since the show, Will’s amounted a huge 53 million likes on TikTok and he’s all loved up on the farm with his alpacas and his Ozzie girlfriend from the show, Jessie Wynter.

Jessie Wynter

Australian Islander Jessie Wynter’s Love Island appearance was wild. Bringing us the crossover between shows we never knew we needed, Jessie appeared as a bombshell on the 2023 season nine after starring in the 2019 Australian series. She recently revealed that she was then approached by producers to appear on the UK winter series in South Africa, where she found love with Farmer Will and appears to be living out her happily ever after.

Molly Marsh

Appearing in the most recent series of Love Island, social media influencer Molly had 700k TikTok followers before the show and had even been inside the Love Island villa before she was a contestant. Wild, right? Molly had also performed in pantomimes and music videos before the show and even had the chance to interview Olivia Atwood for ITV before becoming an Islander.

So it’s safe to say she was pretty established without too much help from her Love Island connections. She was also part of a shocking twist of the show, where she was placed back in the villa as a bombshell after being evicted when Kady McDermott entered the villa and stole her partner, Zachariah Noble. She ultimately placed fourth with Zachariah in last night’s final.

Curtis Pritchard

It’s kind of hard to not know who Curtis Pritchard is these days, known for his charm and incessant need to get up and make everyone a coffee so everyone’s ready for the morning. Curtis is the brother of professional dancer, AJ Pritchard – but he’s also so much more than that. A professional dancer, Curtis was cast in Dancing with the Stars in 2017 and 2018 where he was eliminated in week four and week three respectively.

Since Love Island, he’s appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, The Boxer and The Ballroom Dance with fellow Islander, Tommy Fury, and even made it onto Celebs Go Dating: The Mansion. In 2021, he made his acting debut in Hollyoaks where he acted alongside his brother (shock) and they one of their scenes quickly became a meme – you know the one.

Season two of the show saw Zara Holland, then Miss GB, appear in the original Love Island villa. Zara had won Miss GB before going on the show, but was stripped of the title after being filmed in bed with fellow Islander and Vicky Pattison’s ex, Alex Bowen.

Zara’s de-crowning occurred after Miss GB executives outlined she was not to have sex on air when giving her permission to appear on the show. Since the Island, Zara’s gone on to marry Elliott Love, having a lavish wedding in Greece last month.

Sophie Piper

Appearing on season six, Sophie is actually the sister of Rochelle Humes, most known for being one of five members of The Saturdays and more recently, presenting on ITV’s This Morning. Working previously as a medical personal assistant, Sophie entered the villa as an OG Islander but was dumped on day 22.

Dani Dyer

Winner of series four back in 2018, Dani Dyer is daughter of iconic EastEnders actor, Danny Dyer. Dani was frank back on the show, revealing to the other Islanders pretty early on who her dad was, with her partner on the island, Jack Fincham, being pretty starstruck right up until the end of the series. Dani’s appeared as an extra in her dad’s films over the years but actually appeared in Eastenders back in 2021 as a taxi driver named Jeanette.

Both Dani and Danny have a close relationship, co-hosting the podcast Sorted with the Dyers together. Alongside her son, Santiago, she gave birth to twin girls earlier this year with boyfriend, Jarrod Bowen.

Marcel Somerville

If you didn’t know this then you clearly did not watch any of Love Island season three. One of Blazin squad’s own, Marcel did not keep his boyband past covert. What you might not have known is that he also went by Rocky B, Plat’num B or Bezzle, and appeared in reality TV shows The Games. And he’s 37 – wild. Marcel got married last August to model Rebecca Vieira and they share a two year old son, Roman.

Paige Turley

Despite being Lewis Capaldi’s most notorious ex, Paige actually graced our screens long before joining season six of Love Island, where she auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent when she was 15. She’s continued to pursue her singing and songwriting career to date, often sharing performances and new music on her Instagram account.

Gemma Owen

Daughter of famous former footballer, Michael Owen, Gemma featured on last summer’s season of Love Island. Despite entering the villa at only 19, Gemma didn’t mention her dad all that much and was set on establishing herself as her own person. She’s currently an international dressage rider and has competed on the world stage representing Great Britain.

Tommy Fury

Arguably the most successful Love Island couple, Tommy is the younger brother to the two time world heavyweight champion boxer, Tyson Fury. Despite not winning the 2019 series, Tommy and Molly have gone one to be mega successful celebrities, recently having their baby, Bambi, and getting engaged.

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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