Love Island is now seen as a fast-track to celebrity, but once upon a time it was the celebrities themselves who were dying to appear on the show. That’s right, 15 years ago – when Love Island first aired – the original series saw a whole host of single celebs head to Fiji for eight weeks of sun, sea and (actual) sex – there were no creepy foot-squirming shots back then.
Celebrity Love Island began in 2005 as a competitor for Big Brother and ran for two seasons, starring the likes of models Calum Best and Bianca Gascoigne as well as popstar Shane Lynch. Here are the wildest moments from the original series... (Because, with coronavirus, we're not getting any new Love Island this year.)
The public kicked off at watching celebrities get a free holiday
This is a world away from the public reaction nowadays: the original series faced a backlash for essentially giving celebrities free holidays, as well as an ‘appearance fee’ to be on the show. The celebrities themselves were even criticised for not being entertaining enough. When you consider how much we idolise recent contestants like Ovie Soko for going on Love Island and refusing to play the game – essentially, lounging around and taking in the sun – you can see how much the public's reaction has changed.
Bianca Gascoigne was told she was almost obese by Alicia Douvall
In an entirely unnecessary production move, contestants were pulled into a room and told what people on the outside thought of them. For Gascoigne and model Sophie Anderton, that person was fellow model Alicia Douvall who told Gascoigne she was 'one cupcake away from obesity'. The moment is arguably shocking to watch now, especially as Anderton's attempt at comfort is an invitation to do sit-ups with her.
The public reaction back then was sympathy for Gascoigne, but also huge celebration when she did lose weight in 2007 and publicly thanked Douvall for inspiring her to 'slim down', according to Digital Spy. We can't imagine any part of this encounter would be similarly embraced if it were to happen in 2020.
Lady Victoria Hervey poured a bottle of wine over Sophie Anderton’s head
When socialite Lady Victoria Hervey was forced to leave her love - film director Chris Brosnan - behind after her eviction, he quickly moved on admitting he fancied other women in the villa. However, the biggest stab in the back for Hervey came when he got close to Sophie Anderton, her friend of nine years. Returning to confront Anderton, their confrontation came to no conclusion as Hervey refused to believe Anderton was sorry. So she poured a bottle of wine over her head as she left.
It’s a world away from the Love Island rules we now know, where any aggression towards other contestants can get you kicked off the show. Just last year, Sheriff Lanre was allegedly removed after jokingly kicking Molly-Mae Hague in the crotch.
Returning exes was an everyday occurrence
Hervey wasn’t the only islander to be flown back out to Fiji once her beau had moved on. Singer Leo Ihenacho also made a surprise return when his former flame, Bianca Gascoigne, became close to Calum Best. Not only did he come back to confront the couple, he surprised them by jumping out of a cake. And if they couldn't fly back out? Well, the contestants who had moved on to new loves would find out their thoughts anyway. Producers would often capture video messages from exes and play them to their old beau and new partner. One particularly memorable moment saw Chris Brosnan being told off by DJ Colleen Shannon for his behaviour after she left.
'House Guests' were a thing
Nowadays, when the season is getting boring, producers go to extreme lengths to raise the drama. You know, like in 2018 when they gave Dani Dyer a picture of Jack Fincham that implied he was getting close with someone else – he wasn’t - and Ofcom received a record number of complaints? Yeah, well the 2005 version didn’t need that kind of manipulation because random celebrities were often brought in temporarily to mix things up.
Dubbed ‘house guests’, these celebrities would come into the villa on a seven-day contract and included the likes of Abs Breen from Five, NBA legend Dennis Rodman and Jackass star Steve-O. While they couldn’t be eligible for eviction or winning the £50,000 prize, they could be voted into the love shack – the equivalent of the current series' Hideaway.
Steve-O came and left in two days because there wasn't enough beer or chocolate
Season Two saw the arrival of house guest Steve-O, who was added to the show to boost ratings. Despite saying he had stopped drinking alcohol, the Jackass star requested beer on the show and left after there wasn’t enough alcohol or chocolate available to the stars.
It’s something a number of contestants in the current series have also complained about, with Islanders only allowed one or two glasses of wine or champagne every evening. However, given the responsibility producers now face to protect Islanders from public scrutiny, we can’t say it’s a bad thing that they’re not encouraging them all to get wasted.
Sophie Anderton was called ‘mental’ for shouting at Paul Danan when he pulled her bikini bottoms down
In a memorable on-screen moment, Sophie Anderton understandably fumed in the Love Island diary room after actor Paul Danan pulled her bikini bottoms down. While her reaction attracted typical judgement that she was ‘overreacting’, watching it back now we can’t help but give a standing ovation at her ability to explicitly define consent to viewers. ‘No man is allowed to touch me without my permission,’ she said at the time. Danan would absolutely be kicked off the show for exhibiting this behaviour now.
Calum Best starred in both Season One and Two
Setting him on the path to reality TV royalty, Best was so popular in Season One he was brought back as a late arrival in Season Two. He ended up taking the crown that year with partner Bianca Gascoigne – although the pair never actually ended up properly dating.
The second season had a name change because the celebrities weren’t A-list enough
Quite hilariously, the first season received so much backlash for not featuring 'real celebrities' that producers had to change the name of it to remove the word ‘celebrity’ for the following series. In all fairness, the contestants in the 2005 season were mostly former soap actors and models. Save for Jayne Middlemiss, who was a TV and radio presenter and Liz McClarnon of Atomic Kitten, most of the contestants were no longer in the public eye.
Read More: 11 reasons why Love Island season two was the best...
11 Reasons Love Island Season Two Was Best
1 of 11Everyone was at it, every hour of the day
Remember how these days there's a surprising lack of sex? Cut to season two when literally everyone was romping 24/7, pretty much in front of each other simultaneously. We had Alex Bowen and Zara Holland's infamous night in the hideaway, that problematically cost her her Miss GB title, Sophie Gradon and Tom Powell's big wardrobe moment, Terry Walsh and Emma-Jane Woodham having sex ON TOP OF THE COVERS IN FRONT OF EVERYONE... it got to the point where Nathan Massey would commentate each couples romps as if they were at the races. If that isn't the Love Island content you came for, then you're the only one in the world...
2 of 11It was the first time an islander was removed from the villa
These days, we rarely see big blowouts between contestants. But then again, there hasn't been a Kady McDermott this series.Fireworks flew in season two when Malia Arkian took Scott Thomas on a date while he was coupled up with Kady. Returning to the villa, Kady made an effort to sit next to Malia so she didn't feel uncomfortable, and then accidentally spilt a drink on her. Malia took this to be purposeful, and started a full-blown row with Kady that resulted in her pushing her by the pool. Of course, Malia was removed from the villa, because, as much as we think Love Island is low-brow, it's no Geordie Show, violence SIMPLY won't stand darling...
3 of 11There were tons of dramatic voluntary exits
The best of which came when Rachel Fenton was voted off the island by her fellow contestants, to which Rykard Jenkins dramatically declared 'If you've got a good girl mate you can't really let her go so, i'm out' before chasing her down the beach. Then, Sophie Gradon similarly followed her heart after Tom Powell was voted out of the villa. Having tried and failed to make a new relationship work with Katie Salmon, she asked the Love Island dog - yes, there was a Love Island dog, that should be a reason in itself to be honest - 'shall we go home and see Tom?', before telling her other, very supportive contestants 'my time is done'.
4 of 11The challenges were much more savage
In season two, our entertainment was peaked by the mugged off challenge. The savagery was on another level, as contestants not only had to guess who had mugged who off - in a move that finally outed Malin as the one told the boys Olivia slept with Rykard - they also had to throw cold tea in each others faces. Great TV.
5 of 11The first ever ex-partner was thrown in
Producers first pulled this move back in 2016, throwing in Emma to ruffle Tom's feathers. Not only did Emma cause a stir by coupling up with Terry so soon after Malin left, but Tom and Sophie's suspicion of Emma gave us a good few episodes of drama.
6 of 11It was the birth of the Love Island hot-take
If there is any reason to justify watching Love Island in all of it's tasteless glory, it's the shows ability to give you something to talk about at work the next day. We've seen endless hot takes come out of Love Island since season two, whether it's discussions around feminism, slut-shaming or sexphobia- think of a take and I guarantee you'll find it online. This came to fruition with our beloved 2016 series, after Zara Holland lost her Miss GB title because she slept with Alex Bowen. Cue instant fury and boycotting of the Miss GB pagent. Without this infamous Love Island moment, we never would've realised how many opinions you can form from a show about beautiful people in bikinis fancying each other.
7 of 11There were MANY more relatable moments
Love Island draws you in with it's ability to create a relatable-moment. This could not be truer of season two, when the contestants were so well-plucked that we found ourselves glued to their emotional journey. Whether it was Sophie's amazing ability to articulate why women can sleep with whoever they want, or Olivia's fears about Alex messing her about, or Malin's fury at Terry moving on so quickly- there was a personality in there that everyone could relate to.
8 of 11The cast had much more integrated friendships, and they were adorable
Olivia was just as close to Cara as she was to Rykard, and all of the contestants were equally as invested in their friendships as they were each others relationships- making for a lot more drama. We saw the adorable friendship of Cara and Olivia that has outlasted many of the shows relationships, Nathan's ability to bring the entire group together and Alex and Terry's unspoken bromance.
9 of 11The return of Malin was TV gold
We didn't need Casa Amor in season two, oh no. The contestants created all the drama themselves without necessary divides or savage separations. Terry unceremoniously moving onto Emma just days after Malin left the villa had us all shocked, only for our jaws to end up on the floor when Malin returned to confront Terry. If Terry's face doesn't say it all I don't know what will...
10 of 11There was the first ever same sex couple
Katie entered, told the girls she's bisexual and subsequently started dating Sophie. Not only was it a first for the show, it enabled the girls to educate the boys that their extremely over-excited reaction was problematic- with Cara explaining to Nathan that lesbianism does not exist for the male gaze, in a round about way.
11 of 11It was much more sex positive
The peak of the series came in Sophie's pagent speech, which she devoted to Zara, eloquently explaining the double-standard women experience for having sex. Shouting to the world 'women like to have sex!', it was a season highlight and still tops our list as the best Love Island moment of all time.