After Love Island

For many of us, the ITV2 show was the summer of 2017, making overnight celebrities of the couples it created. But what happened to its stars when the cameras stopped rolling? Josie Copson played third wheel for a month.

- Josie Copson

I reach my left arm through a set of prison-style bars at Sugar Hut. Dave Read, a reality-star agent, hands me what I’ve been longing for since I arrived at this Essex club an hour ago. Actually what I’ve been longing for since the Love Island villa flung open its doors once more. A VIP band to stand in the midst of people who, three months ago, I would have walked straight past in the street.

I leave behind about 150 girls (and the occasional boy) all crowded around two small booths. Nobody is drinking. Nobody is dancing. Nobody is even interacting. Everyone is just staring. Staring and waiting with their phones poised for a selfie with an ‘Islander’. No one here at the unofficial ‘reunion party’ even made the final. No one lasted longer than a couple of weeks, yet here we are in awe of these celebrities. I seriously think that even if Madonna walked in, everyone would be like, “Yeah, I mean, she did some cool stuff in the ’90s, but Muggy Mike is doing meet-and-greets.”

Love Island, which sees attractive people compete in swimwear to find eternal love, has been simmering beneath the surface for the past couple of years, but this series it reached its peak – 2.9 million viewers tuned in to ITV2 for the final to see who was crowned ‘The most in love, but also likeable’ couple. This was an all-time record for the channel. Social media came to life between 9pm-10pm as #LoveIsland took over. A-listers such as Adele, Stormzy and Liam Gallagher confessed their obsession with the show. Even Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn endorsed Marcel for the win. Next year’s instalment has already had so many applicants it is now officially harder to get on Love Island than it is to get into Cambridge University.