The first wave of contestants for the new, winter season of Love Island has been announced, featuring twins, the sister of Rochelle Humes and aristo Ollie Williams. The eventual winners will win £50,000 and, of course, the affirmation that comes with finding true love through the hit reality show. But that’s not all. Once they leave the villa – this year in South Africa – the contestants who win over the public could be set for lucrative careers as influences.
Marketing agency Billion Dollar Baby have released findings which estimate that Love Island’s contestants could see their Instagram followers increase by as much as 2 million. This could earn them an impressive £840,000 a year if they embrace the influencer lifestyle.
Take Amber Gill, last year’s winner, who joined the villa with only 30,000 followers. (This would enable her to earn around £500 per post). By the end of the series, Amber had 1,610,00 and could earn an extra £600,000.
Amber recently announced that she is now a millionaire, just 5 months after leaving the villa. As well as lucrative influencer contracts, she has signed an exclusive six-month deal with online fashion brand MissPap in September.
There are, however, things that the contestants should keep in mind. Only today, series favourite Molly-Mae Hague was chastised by watchdogs for failing to clarify that one of her Instagram posts was paid for.
Both the retailer and Molly-Mae claimed that the 'organic' post wasn’t part of the contract as she was posting in her own personal interest, but the authority said that the post could not appear in its current form. The ASA ruled that future posts made to her 3.6million followers must include phrases such as ‘#ad’ to make her partnership with the brand clear.
Just after her time in the villa, Molly-Mae told Grazia what the secrets are for having a great Instagram. (And hint: consistency is key.) ‘I think the tops for having an amazing Instagram would be to stay consistent with your posting,’ she said. ‘But in terms of actually taking a good picture, it's all about the lighting. Making sure you have that strong Instagram lighting is so important. For any influencers who would like advice from me, it would be to just make sure you stay consistent and post every day, as many times as you can.’
READ MORE: Love Island's Molly-Mae Hague: 'I Help Choose Tommy's Outfits'