Fans eagerly awaiting the next episode of Love Island All Stars on Saturday night will have to hold off until Sunday for fresh drama. Instead, they’ll be treated to Love Island All Stars: Unseen Bits on Saturday 18 January, which promises a compilation of weekly highlights and juicy moments that didn’t make it into the regular episodes. This format isn’t new; it mirrors what was done during the summer edition of Love Island. Kem Cetinay, the 2017 winner, spilled the beans on This Morning about why Saturdays are devoid of new content. He shared that the Islanders get a day off, which is also when the villa gets a thorough cleaning. “They give you one day off. You get one day off per week. What happens is, it gives them a day to clean the villa, and you take your mics off, and normally we go to the beach,” he revealed.
Kem revealed some of the Love Island villa rules
During this break, Islanders must avoid show-related chatter, focusing instead on personal life stories. “So what happens is, when you take your mic off, you are not allowed to talk about anything to do with the show, you have to talk about home life.” Kem added that producers keep a close watch to ensure the integrity of the show’s narrative, saying, “You are being watched by the producers, because they don’t want you to talk about what is going on. They are quite careful about what you talk about, because they want to keep it so everyone at home can see it,” reports the Mirror. Georgia Steel, a star from 2024’s Love Island All Stars, spoke about villa life to Closer magazine, saying, “We don’t go out of the villa. More or less the boys and the girls are split up and I totally understand that from a production point of view,” adding insight into how producers maintain control over coupling dynamics. “They don’t want relationships to maybe grow or for them to have conversations that they believe would be a huge benefit for the public to see, so they want to split you up.”
Amy shared some intimate secrets of the villa
(Image: ITV)
Strict villa protocols also include banning smoking since 2018, restrictions on intoxication and nudity, as well as zero tolerance for any sort of offensive language. The Islanders must remain mic’d up continually, except in certain conditions as Amy Hart, a contestant from 2019, clarified in an intimate Q&A with fans. “They have someone watching and when you go into the toilet you can turn your mic off,” she revealed, disclosing there are stringent bathroom policies including camera surveillance solely for safety and security reasons. Islanders are forbidden from bringing books or magazines into the villa – probably because it would make for a less exciting show if they were all just reading all day. They also have to stick to specific meal times. The Islanders can whip up their own breakfast, but lunch and dinner are provided. Ex-contestant Montana Brown spilled the beans: “In the larder there’s another door that goes out the back that they lock. That’s how they deliver food.” She also mentioned that meal time is when the producers come in to charge up their microphones, which explains why we never see the Islanders munching except on a ‘big night’.
Malia Arkian was axed from the show after a ‘physical altercation’ in 2016
(Image: ITV screengrab)
Their personal mobile phones are off-limits too – they’re given ones specifically for the show – and in January 2023 ITV declared that contestants’ social media accounts had to stay inactive during their stint in the villa, “to protect both the Islanders and their families from the adverse effects of social media,” as in past years family members and friends had managed Islanders’ accounts while they were away. There’s also a rule book handed out to all the Islanders offering guidance on consent, safe sex and appropriate behaviour. It’s known that Love Island has seen its rules broken before. Sherif Lanre from the 2019 series had to leave the villa after a regrettable incident where he accidentally kicked Molly-Mae Hague in the groin and made inappropriate jokes about it. Adding to the drama, Malia Arkian from the 2016 series was removed mere hours after her bombshell arrival for physically lashing out at Kady McDermott due to a wine spillage kerfuffle. Explaining her side of the story to Closer, Malia revealed: “Security removed me after an altercation with Kady. I met with the producers, where we watched the footage back and there was a report conducted. I then went to a hotel with my chaperone, where I stayed for 24 hours, with no contact with anyone.” She added: “I was distraught and devastated. I was terrified about what people would be thinking. ITV have the final say on whether you leave, and they decided that I wouldn’t be let back.”
