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@kazkamwi/Instagram Remix by Cole Mitchell

‘Love Island’ and the future of the reality TV-to-influencer pipeline

'Fame and money don't last forever.'

 

Daysia Tolentino

Internet Culture

Posted on Sep 2, 2021   Updated on Jul 26, 2023, 6:16 pm CDT

Passionfruit

This story was originally published on Passionfruit.

I recently finished the latest series of Love Island U.K.—which was a flop to say the least, but we’ll get back to that later.

A frequent criticism of “disingenuous” (as if the entire premise isn’t disingenuous) contestants is that they’re game players—only in it for the £50,000 prize. In reality, no one has ever taken the cash prize for themselves, but many of the show’s “islanders” have successfully turned their 15 minutes of fame into lucrative social media presences. 

Over the past few years, the “game player” critique has slowly morphed into “they’re only in it for the PrettyLittleThing deal” or something of the sort.


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*First Published: Sep 2, 2021, 6:00 am CDT