Every time an Islander threatened to quit the villa whilst filming and their dramatic reasons

During most seasons of Love Island there is at least one Islander who will quit the villa – but then after the show it comes out that more and more cast members tried to, but changed their minds.

Some realised they wanted to stay, whilst others were persuaded by production staff to reconsider wanting to leave the villa. From being called a game player until they couldn’t take it any longer, to just having enough and wanting to go home – there have been loads of reasons Islanders have wanted to pack it all in.

Here is a rundown of every time an Islander wanted to quit the villa but decided otherwise, and their reasons behind wanting to call it a day.

Laura Anderson, 2018

In a pretty iconic turn of events, Laura Anderson attempted to walk out the 2018 villa THREE times and at one point walked out, chain smoked on the beach and then got brought back by producers.

She told The Sun: “They brought me back. The first time I walked out was when Wes pied me off. I didn’t sleep all night. I went to the beach most of the night and I smoked 24 cigarettes. Loads of stuff happens and you’re just stuck there and you have to chat about it so I just felt a bit overwhelmed. I was like, ‘I’ve had enough’.”

ALL the 2018 girls apparently tried to quit the show at some point

According to Frankie from the Love Island 2018 series, all the girls tried to quit the villa at some point that year. He said they all struggled with the drama, and wanted out. Speaking to The Mirror, Frankie said: “I think all of the girls must have had a moment in there where they were like ‘I’m not doing this I’m going to go.'”

Shaughna Phillips, 2020

Shaughna had a turbulent time in the winter 2020 villa. She was happily coupled up with Callum, but then he came back with Molly after Casa Amor. During the show, Shaughna told her fellow Islanders she would quit if Callum came back with someone else after Casa.

At the time, she said: “I could leave now. I just think I’m going to be in here and be uncomfortable or go home and not be.” Later she went and had a chat with the girls, and broke down. Jess Gale told her: “You can’t leave us Shaughna, you came here to find someone you. You just didn’t find that in Callum.” After speaking to the girls and letting things calm down, Shaughna stayed.

Tasha Ghouri and Andrew Le Page, 2022

Tasha and Andrew wanted to leave the show together, during the 2022 series. During this series there were multiple times where Islanders were called out for bullying Tasha, and this all reached a height during the Snog, Marry, Pie challenge. In the challenge, Luca and Dami threw pie at Tasha, saying it was just a game, but viewers called it a “personal attack” and Ofcom received hundreds of complaints.

In an interview after the show, Tasha said she attempted to hold her head high, but felt backed into a corner after the challenge, and was ready to walk out after feeling “targeted” while she was on the show. She revealed she spoke to producers, telling them she had enough and Andrew said he would go with her if she left the villa.

Josh Le Grove, 2022

Josh was a Casa Amor addition in the Love Island 2022 series, and after the show said he tried to quit after spending 40 minutes a day in therapy. He told Secure the Insecure podcast: “I was in welfare for 20 to 40 minutes every day just because the only place that I could actually get stuff off my chest. For a good four days I was ready to leave when I left I was upset because I felt like that was the final day that I got probably that connect with Summer.

“But my head was gone. I thought we’re gonna be left to our own devices, I’ll be on the outside, but it’s not. A lot of it’s forced chats break. And then you’re gonna chat to the girls and chat to boys, or like a chill day where you can’t even chat to anyone about anything, because you got production in your ears, and I can’t talk about this. That kind of stuff.

“After a while I was ready to leave, two days before I left, I was in welfare saying ‘how do I go about leaving, I’m not feeling it anymore’.”

Jessie Wynter, 2023

During the winter Love Island 2023 series, it was revealed Jessie had tried to leave the villa, but the producers wouldn’t let her. In an interview she said the combination of her constantly being branded a “game player” by her fellow Islanders, and then Will cheating during Casa Amor made her want to quit.

Speaking about the moment she found out Will had strayed during Casa, she told The Useless Helpline Podcast: “I was like, ‘That’s it I’m done. I’m done with Will, I’m done with the villa’. And then production was like, ‘Er no, that’s not happening, you can’t do that, you can’t just leave.’”

Tyrique Hyde, 2023

Tyrique had a tough Casa Amor, with Ella coming back with Ouzy despite being closed off with him. This hit Tyrique so hard that he wanted to quit the show, but producers convinced him to stay.

Speaking to Toby Aromolaran on his podcast, dumped Islander Montel said Tyrique’s “head was gone” when Ella walked into the villa with Ouzy and said he tried to leave the show. “Ty’s head was gone. He didn’t know how to think, he was trying to leave. We had to talk to him so many times and sit him down to get him to relax,” he explained.

Mitch Taylor, 2023

A couple of weeks into Love Island 2023, Mitch also wanted to leave the villa because nobody was interested in getting to know him. This was after he had been coupled up with Molly Marsh, but that didn’t work out.

During an appearance on Bambino Becky’s YouTube channel, Mitch revealed he was prepared to quit Love Island. He said: “It got to a point where I got to a certain day and I took my mic off, got in the pool and said to Zach, ‘I am prepared to go home soon’.”

Anton Danyluk, All Stars 2024

Anton tried to quit the Love Island: All Stars villa after arguments with Georgia H. Speaking on a podcast, winners Tom and Molly said Anton found the experience “really tough” and at one point, wanted to quit.

“I think he found the whole process really tough, Tom told the Wednesdays podcast. “There were times in there where maybe he probably thought about leaving and stuff like that. He got a bit emotional as well bless him. There were a few nights in there where things got really heated.”

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