As Love Island hits our TV screens again this summer, a new parade of hopeful contestants are preparing for love, the limelight and the luxury designer items they’d buy with their future brand deals.
While only the winners receive a handsome £100,000 prize, every contestant has the opportunity for great exposure, recognition and fame on the back of the nail-biting reality TV hit.
From brand deals, book deals, acting contracts and much more, Love Islanders have seen a lot of success after the show. However, looking back from when Love Island first aired in 2015, to the most recent All-Stars season in 2024, success hasn’t been equal for all those who have left the villa.
To mark the start of the latest series, Creditfix has analysed nine key data points across all Love Island contestants to ever enter into the villa to determine who has been the most successful since they aired and why.
The study looked at factors such as Instagram follower count, engagement rate, average likes per post, amount earned per sponsored post, number of brand deals over the past two months, number of own brands, number of TV shows, radio shows or podcasts they’ve appeared on since the villa, and number of books they’ve written, and compared against the 100 most followed islanders on Instagram.
Maybe future Islanders could learn a lesson from their predecessors on how to manage fame and success following season 11?
The most successful Love Islanders of all time
| Most successful Love Island contestants (S1-S10) | |||||||||
| Rank | Name | Instagram followers | Engagement rate | Avg. likes per Instagram post | Avg. earnt per sponsored post | Own brands | Books | Media appearances as self since the show | Index score, out of 100 |
| 1 | Molly-Mae Hague | 7,900,000 | 4.21% | 332,418 | £24,800 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 46.90 |
| 2 | Tommy Fury | 5,400,000 | 4.07% | 220,501 | £18,600 | 0 | 1 | 29 | 38.54 |
| 3 | Alex George | 2,000,000 | 0.32% | 6,293 | £8,600 | 1 | 4 | 21 | 31.50 |
| 4 | Dani Dyer | 3,700,000 | 2.83% | 105,930 | £14,000 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 28.11 |
| 5 | Maura Higgins | 3,800,000 | 4.05% | 153,740 | £14,200 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 26.63 |
| 6 | Molly Smith | 1,600,000 | 8.26% | 137,264 | £7,500 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 24.12 |
| 7 | Zara McDermott | 2,000,000 | 2.11% | 42,367 | £8,700 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 21.73 |
| 8 | Amber Gill | 2,500,000 | 0.82% | 20,756 | £10,400 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 20.68 |
| 9 | Ella Thomas | 1,000,000 | 11.36% | 113,234 | £5,100 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 20.62 |
| 10 | Ekin-Su Culculoglu | 3,800,000 | 1.88% | 71,677 | £14,200 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 20.58 |
The three most successful Love Island contestants ever have been revealed as Molly Mae Hague, Tommy Fury and Alex George.
Most of those in the top ten were either winners, runners-up, third or fourth place on the show, except for Alex George, Zara McDermott and Molly Smith, who were dumped; suggesting that you’ve got a better chance of making it big after Love Island if you do the same in the villa… no pressure on the cast of summer 2024!
1. Molly-Mae Hague
With over 7.9M Instagram followers, bagging £24k per sponsored post and over 300k average likes, Molly Mae stands as the most successful Love Islander ever and undoubtedly the most well known.
After leaving the villa in 2019, with now fiancé Tommy Fury, Molly Mae launched her own tanning brand, Filter by Molly Mae, before being appointed as the Creative Director at Pretty Little Thing for almost two years.
Molly Mae has since written her own book, ‘Becoming Molly Mae’, featured in the docuseries “At Home with the Fury’s”, and signed on to be the face of beauty brand L’Oréal – one of her biggest deals yet.
2. Tommy Fury
Following close behind, Tommy Fury was the second most successful Islander, also ranking second for the highest Instagram follower count (over 5.4M) and earnings per sponsored post (£18,600).
In 2022, Tommy entered the limelight again, appearing on TV alongside his family on their own show “At Home with The Fury’s”. Like his fiance, Tommy is also in the process of releasing his own book, ‘LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE TWICE: My Life as a Fury’, expected in October 2024.
3.Alex George
After leaving the villa in 2018, Dr Alex was appointed as a UK youth mental health ambassador and has since written four books on the topic, more than any other contestant.
As one of the most successful Love Island contestants and an attractive name for brands, Dr Alex earns around £8,600 per sponsored post thanks to his 2M Instagram following.
In addition to books and brand deals, Alex found success in starting his own podcast ‘The Stompcast’ in 2021. He can also often be found on TV, appearing and presenting on a number of shows.
4.Dani Dyer
In fourth place and a triple threat, is Dani Dyer, who has signed contracts for four of her own TV shows, hosted her own podcast and also written a book all since leaving the villa in 2018.
Standing out as one of the most successful Islanders, Dani has appeared on more TV shows since leaving the villa than any other contestant, at 32 overall.
All Dani’s career ventures after the villa have kept her cemented in the limelight and made her an attractive name for brands, earning around £13,800 per sponsored post, the fifth highest of all contestants.
5. Maura Higgins
Since leaving the villa, Maura Higgins has become the third most followed Islander on Instagram with over 3.8M followers, also earning the third highest per sponsored post at £14,200.
Maura has taken to the screen many times since her 2019 Love Island debut, appearing on 17 different shows both as a contestant and a host.
As the fifth most successful Islander overall, Maura remains firmly in the limelight with searches for her name up by 16% over the past year.
6. Molly Smith
After being dumped from the Island in season six, Molly Smith made quite the return for Love Island All Stars, going on to win the show earlier this year.
All of this exposure has led people to search for Molly’s name 1,279% more over the past year, resulting in an Instagram following from 850k to over 1.6M.
Earning around £7,500 per sponsored post, the star is thought to have earned around £67,500 in the last two months alone from nine Instagram brand deals.
7. Zara McDermott
Since her appearance on season four of Love Island, Zara McDermott has reached over 2M followers on Instagram, averaging 42,000 likes per post.
Using her fame as a springboard for success, Zara recently announced she’d created her own clothing brand, ‘RISE’, which has since gained 36,000 Instagram followers in its own right.
The star has also featured on 21 different shows since her Love Island stint, contributing to a 646% search increase for her name over the past year.
8. Amber Gill
The fourth contestant from season five to make the list is Amber Gill, who has amassed an Instagram following of over 2.5M since the show.
A popular face on screen, Amber has appeared as herself on 13 different TV shows since her Love Island debut in 2019.
The star has also ventured into the world of fiction writing, being the author of two summer romance novels: ‘Until I Met You’ and ‘One Summer in Miami’.
9. Ella Thomas
The most recent to fly to fame, season 10 Islander Ella Thomas has already reached over 1M followers on Instagram since her 2023 debut, averaging 113,200 likes per post.
Still in the limelight from her recent appearance on the show, searches for ‘Ella Thomas’ have flown by 4554% in the past year, making her a popular choice for brand deals.
Earning around £5,100 per sponsored post, Ella is predicted to have brought in around £30,600 in the past two months from six Instagram sponsorship deals.
10. Ekin-Su Culculoglu
Season 8’s winner, Ekin-Su, has become the fourth most followed Love Islander on Instagram, with 3.8M followers bringing in an average of 71,600 likes per post.
Earning around £14,200 per sponsored post, the star is predicted to have earned £56,800 in the past two months from only four Instagram sponsorship deals.
Upon leaving the villa, Ekin-Su starred in her own TV show, “Ekin-Su and Davide: Homecomings’, with her then-boyfriend, Davide. After their split, Ekin-Su went on to appear on many more TV shows, totalling 13 since her Love Island debut.
Lessons from the islanders
As demonstrated by the most successful islanders, it seems as though posting on Instagram alone isn’t enough to sustain financial success after the villa.
Building a personal brand and ensuring socials stay relevant – whether that be having their own TV show, podcast, or book – is essential to increase engagement, average likes, follower count, and amount earned per sponsored post; which Molly Mae and Tommy Fury are a shining example of.
Speaking on the importance of staying relevant after appearing on the show, former contestant Jay Younger said: “It’s all well and good being on Love Island, you get exposure and recognition, but if you do nothing with that when you leave then people will just be like, ‘so what?’”
Cast wages
Love Islanders actually get a small wage while in the villa from ITV. In 2018, the islanders got paid around £10 an hour which works out to £375 per week.
This differs for Love Island All Stars series contestants, where the already established celebs are paid around £2,000 per week to appear on the show – that’s £10,000 for staying in the whole five weeks.
All the contestants also get paid ad-hoc for any advertisement they do in the villa, like carrying a branded bottle or wearing sponsored clothes.
However, as said by season 8 islander Jay Younger on The Big Jim Show podcast, when you’re in the villa: “It’s not about the money it’s about the exposure that it’s meant to give you after” – with Islanders being invited to events by ITV straight after leaving the villa which they get paid around £1,200 for, like ITV commercial events.
While secret sponsorships could be seen as promoting an unsustainable lifestyle, newer seasons of Love Island sponsored by the likes of eBay have resulted in a big rise in some of the latest influencers from the show promoting more affordable and sustainable fashion.
Life after the villa
After Love Island, 28 of the 100 most followed Islanders went on to create their own brands, with some starting more than one; the most popular being fitness inspired brands including personal nutrition, fitness apps and coaching.
16 Islanders also published their own book, and nearly all appeared in another TV show, radio show, or podcast after their Love Island debut.
Money lessons from the islanders
While it may seem like the islanders in the limelight of the villa have it all, they aren’t necessarily guaranteed financial success or a celebrity status that will stick.
While the famous Mallorca villa can be a playground for romance, drama, and much more, it can also set unrealistic financial expectations – not only for contestants but fans too.
Learning from previous seasons, ITV now offers contestants financial management training to help them better deal with their money after they leave the villa – highlighting the importance of having a handle on your purse strings.
If you’re struggling with your finances and are worried about falling into debt, you’re not alone. Get in touch with the team at Creditfix where we can discuss the options available to take back control over your debt, including an IVA.
Why choose Creditfix?
- Write off unsecured debts over £6,000
- Stop interest and charges soaring
- Reduced payments from £110 per month
Methodology
Creditfix gathered Instagram follower count data for all the Love Island contestants to ever appear on the show from season 1 to season 10, and analysed the top 100 most followed using 9 key data points:
- Instagram follower count,
- Instagram engagement rate, according to social blade,
- Average likes per Instagram post, according to social blade,
- Money earnt per sponsored post, according to inzpire.me,
- Number of own brands listed in their Instagram bio,
- Number of brand deals in Instagram posts over the last two months,
- YOY% increase in Google searches for their name, according to Google Keyword Planner,
- Number of TV shows, radio shows, podcasts, TV programs or films, where they have appeared as themselves since entering Love Island for the first time, according to IMDB, and
- Number of books they have written, according to Amazon: Books.
To determine the success of each contestant, an index was used to collate the totals of each data set, whereby those with the highest score were the most successful and vice versa.
Data is correct as of May 2024.
