Love Island executive producer Mike Spencer spoke to The Sun and talked about everything that goes on behind the scenes. Here are the show's most juicy secrets, from the social media apps allowed on the candidates' phones to the amount of sleep each Islander gets.
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Tweaks
Mike Spencer spoke about the changes that might be there on the show this season. The tweaks come after the show bosses wanted to spice things up a little for viewers this time. He added:
I think again it's the balance. We've definitely got tweaks and format points; we've got some really exciting bits and bobs to come.
We know as a production we're making a dating show, an entertainment dating show hopefully, and I think we will always try and think of ways in which we can tweak things to get the viewers excited and I think we've got an exciting year ahead and think we've got some fun ideas.
During the day
When asked about what contestants mostly do during the day, he described their routine as that of a holiday. They sit by the pool, chat and have a drink as they relax. The show bosses also encourage contestants to get books.
Mobile phones
The idea of the reality dating show stems from human interaction without any distraction. However, the bosses agreed they are trying to keep the show as authentic as possible, so mobile phones have limited apps. Mike confirmed:
The magic of Love Island is stripped back of mobile phones and the dramas that are awful online, the dating apps, actually you just want to chat to people.
In here you don't have the distraction of your WhatsApp, your Instagram, or your DMs going off, you're just chatting to people.
No distractions
The show bosses want to keep the experience on the show as undistracted as possible. They believe that is the beauty of the show as it allows singletons to have a conversation without being bothered by anything else. Mike concluded:
We want to encourage conversation that’s not distracted, where people can actually see you for who you are and that's when people actually genuinely fall in love.
Sleep time
There is no fixed time to wake up or sleep in the villa, the crew monitors the schedule and makes sure they get enough sleep and are happy. Mike added:
We do wake them up in the morning but it changes every day. We have such a reactive show, so like if we’ve got a big challenge and so on. As part of our welfare commitments, we monitor their sleep and make sure they’re having enough sleep.
Tasks
Viewers enjoy the most when contestants get to know each other through close and personal challenges. So, none of them are warned about the tasks and they get bikini ready as soon as they receive the text.
Read more:
⋙ Love Island boss reveals the villa is not yet ready with just days left before contestants arrive
⋙ Love Island to cast its first-ever deaf contestant this season
⋙ Love Island All Stars: Could an all-stars special finally be in the works?
