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Love Island alumni Montana Brown, Paige Turley, Yewande Biala and Samira Mighty have discussed the challenges they have faced since appearing on the show in a candid new interview.
Speaking to Cosmopolitan, Love Island 2017 star Montana, 25, discussed feeling ‘disposable’ in the industry after exiting the villa, while 2020 champion Paige, 23, and 2019 star Yewande, 25, detailed the negative impact on their love lives.
Montana, said: ‘The first year after Love Island, I behaved like a bit of a brat – people give you everything for free, and do everything for you.
Honest: Love Islander’s Montana Brown (pictured), Paige Turley, Yewande Biala and Samira Mighty have discussed the challenges they have faced since appearing on the show
‘But you can’t forget that you’re quite disposable in this industry. Future contestants need to know what they’re getting into, and also understand that fame and money don’t last forever.’
Reflecting on how she’s learnt to stay grounded, she continued: ‘In the beginning I was constantly looking in my peripherals to see what other contestants were doing. Who’s working with which brands? Who’s getting paid what?
‘You psycho-analyse yourself, because you feel pressure to look a certain way in order to get the work.
‘As time’s gone on, I’ve learned you can’t copy people. I had to find what I was passionate about beyond social media, and now use it as a place to keep up with my friends.’
Revealing: In an interview with Cosmopolitan , the swimwear founder, 25, discussed feeling ‘disposable’ in the industry after exiting the villa, while Yewande (pictured), 25, detailed the negative impact on her love life
Yewande, who stepped foot in the sun-soaked villa in 2019, said Love Island has made it harder for her to date.
She said: ‘I had trust issues before I went in, but once I left, it got even harder.
‘Normally if you want to meet someone, you go on Tinder, but if someone matches with me, I think it’s because they’ve seen me on TV. I’m so paranoid that now I just don’t put myself in that situation.’
Despite making her wary of new suitors, she confirmed she wouldn’t change a thing about her time on the reality dating programme.
Unconventional: Meanwhile Paige, 25, confessed she had to start dating Finley Tapp ‘backwards’ after they finished the show and began living together during the pandemic
She added: ‘I had an amazing summer. The way it’s engineered is so clever because you’re so completely focused on your time there that you forget about what we called “the outside”.
‘It means you’re really in the moment and I had my highest highs and my lowest lows in that villa.’
Meanwhile Love Island 2020 winner Paige confessed she had to start dating Finley Tapp ‘backwards’ after they finished the show and began living together during the pandemic.
She said: ‘You start the relationship very accelerated – you meet them and then you’re sharing a bed!
‘So it’s been nice to find the basics. We did things back to front. Now we’re actually going to go on our first dates! … I keep saying to Finley that it’ll be nice when he can see me in normal clothes that aren’t joggers or pyjamas.
‘He’s seen me in the villa in heels and dresses every night, and when we left the villa he must have been like, “Oh my god.”‘
Read the full interview in the July/August issue of Cosmopolitan which goes on sale on Thursday
Weighing up the benefits from the show, she said: ‘It’s changed my life. I live in a new city with my boyfriend, I’ve doubled my family with Finn’s, and every day is a pinch-me moment.’
Meanwhile Samira, 25, admitted she struggled to comprehend the online backlash and trolling after appearing on Love Island in 2018.
‘It was surprising,’ she said. ‘You never expect to see your name trending on Twitter. I couldn’t get my head round how people can send messages like ones I’ve had.
‘Every little thing you do gets looked at. People think they know you very well, but sometimes it can get a bit too personal.’
According to the West End star, one of the biggest changes she experienced from the show was being recognised in the street by strangers.
She elaborated: ‘I can’t compare being “just Samira who was in musicals” to who I am now in the public eye.
‘Imagine going from normal life where no one recognises you to one day suddenly everyone recognises you everywhere you go. The degree of fame was a huge shock.’
But just like Yewande, she said she wouldn’t change a thing as she added: ‘I don’t have any regrets, not one.’
Read the full interview in July / August issue of Cosmopolitan, on sale from 10 June.
Take it to heart: Samira, 25, admitted she struggled to comprehend the online backlash and trolling after appearing on Love Island as she said: ‘Sometimes it can get a bit too personal’
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