Love Island 2018: Everything you need to know about the popular TV show

The new series of Love Island is here!

Author: Alex Ross and Anna Sky Hulton

Love Island has now ended! The 2018 series of the popular dating show started on the 4th June and saw 11 hopefuls join the show. Eight weeks later, on the 30th July, fans saw Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham crowned winners, and share the £50,000 prize money.

Since the beginning of the show we have seen a number of Islanders be dumped, leave of their own accord, and new ones enter! There's also been much drama in the Love Island villa, so take a look at some of the most talked about moments from this year's show below.

Here is everything you need to know about one of Britain's favourite reality TV shows, Love Island:

Love Island latest news

The 2018 series of Love Island has now ended! Dani and Jack were announced as winners on the 30th July and Dani's dad, Danny Dyer, had a brilliant reaction to his daughter winning the series.

Love Island bosses have also released the viewing figures details for this year, and as you would expect it was incredibly popular.

Don't worry however, if you're stuck for what to do now that Love Island 2018 has finished, there is still ONE MORE episode of the show you can watch. Love Island: The Reunion will be shown on Sunday 5th August and you can apply for tickets online now!

When does Love Island 2018 start?

Love Island has now started! The series started on the 4th June after many weeks of teasing.

Earlier this year, although the actual launch date wasn't revealed, TV host Caroline Flack retweeting a message in early April, saying it would start in, '2 . Months 👀'. sic

When does Love Island 2018 finish?

The final date for Love Island has now been revealed as the Monday 30th July! The Radio Times are listing episode 57 of 58 as airing on Sunday 29th July, which makes the finale the day after.

Who is hosting Love Island 2018?

After last year's success, 38-year-old Caroline Flack is once again be hosting the show. Despite not featuring in every episode, Caroline enters the famous villa for eliminations and new arrivals.

Teasing fans about her return, Caroline posted a photo of herself looking very excited and captioned the shot with, 'Exciting PROMO WEEK ahead . How has it been a year???? Where does time go??? 🤔💁🏼‍♀️😬'. sic

How much do the Love Island cast get paid?

According to reports, each Islander is given £200 per week during their time on the popular dating show, which works out at around £2.80 per hour when you take into account all of the filming they do. The amount may seem slightly low per hour, but when you think of how much money some of the Islanders make when they leave the show, we certainly wouldn't turn it down!

What channel is Love Island 2018 on?

Love Island is on ITV2 at 9pm every evening. However, on some days the start time was delayed due to the World Cup.

Who is appearing on Love Island 2018?

The original line-up was released on Monday 28th May and included Danny Dyer's daughter Dani, who was rumoured to be joining the series for a number of weeks, after her role in Survival Of The Fittest was cut short due to injury earlier this year.

The line-up also included Instagram model Eyal Booker, and a doctor from Wales. See the full line-up of 11 contestants for Love Island 2018.

If you want to follow the contestants on Instagram you can also find out all of their Instagram handles here.

On the 27th June it was revealed that 12 (yes 12!) new people would be entering the villa, find out all about them here. Since then, even more Islanders have entered the villa!

Who has been dumped from Love Island?

So far we've said "goodbye" to Kendall Rae-Knight. The retail manager from Blackpool entered on Day 1 and left on Day 6.

Kendall Rae-Knight

At the end of week two we also said "goodbye" to Charlie and Hayley who lost the public vote, and Niall left the show due to personal reasons.

Since then we have also bid farewell to Eyal, a 22-year-old model from London and 'star' of a Zara Larsson music video, Rosie, who had a very unusual piercing, and Zara, who is a 21-year-old government adviser from Essex.

On the 5th July, it was announced that Adam Collard and Darylle, Alex Miller and Megan Barton Hanson, and Sam Bird and Ellie Jones were in the bottom three couples. Two people would be saved, whilst the others would be dumped. Georgia chose to keep Sam, with Wes shocking the nation when he picked Megan, meaning Adam, Darylle, Alex and Ellie were dumped.

On the 9th July Grace and Frankie were dumped from the Island.

Samira has also left the villa to 'follow her heart', she gathered the other Islanders around the fire pit to share her news telling them, "So, these past couple of days I haven’t been myself and I’ve struggled to be happy in here and have fun and I had a taste of what I’ve wanted and it’s gone."

She went on to say, "I’ve really tried and been tossing and turning about what I’m going to do. I think the best thing for me to get closure on the Frankie situation and for me to be happy is to go today. I’m really sad but it’s a good thing. I’m really happy that I’m doing this and I feel really strong. I love all of you so much. You are all so amazing."

Just a few days after they entered Love Island, Idris Virgo and Kieron Nicholls were dumped from the show on the 13th July.

Love Island couple Ellie Brown and Charlie Brake were dumped on the 15th July.

On the 19th July, Georgia Steel and Sam Bird decided to leave the show, after they had originally decided to split up, in order to stay on the show. However, a few days after 'splitting' they were spotted having a kiss in the bathroom. They then made the decision to leave the show.

Stephanie Lam and Josh Mair were dumped from the Villa on Sunday 22nd July, after they lost out on the public vote for their favourite couple.

On Wednesday 25th July, Jack Fowler and Laura Crane found themselves dumped from the show, less than a week away from the finale.

On 29th July, Love Island contestants Alex George and Alexandra Cane were dumped from the show, just a day before the final!

These leaves four couples on the show, Wes and Megan, Laura and Paul, Jack and Dani, and Josh and Kaz.

Where is the Love Island villa?

Last year, the super luxury villa was located on the North-East coast of the Balearic island of Majorca, with reports suggesting the 2018 location could be the same.

The 2017 villa was hidden high up in the hills on the outskirts of a town called Sant Llorenc des Cardassar, near Cala Millo, with ITV renting the property for the show off a French businessman.

The villa was kitted out with over 70 cameras on last year's show, with the Islanders being forced to wear their microphones at all times.

Now have a look inside this year's villa...

Love Island 2018 villa


Love Island 2018: Everything you need to know about the popular TV show
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How long is Love Island 2018 on for?

The current series started on the 4th June and ended on the 30th July, making it a massive eight weeks, as predicted. Series one and two lasted six weeks, with last year's being extended to seven weeks.

Is Iain Stirling commentating on Love Island 2018?

YES! In news we all love, the amazing Iain Stirling is back for the 2018 series. The Scottish comedian was dubbed a 'legend' by the show's fans last year after his hilarious and witty commentary about the contestants.

Iain's return was confirmed by ITV when they released the first teaser trailer ahead of the 2018 series.

Iain is the boyfriend of TV presenter Laura Whitmore, in a celebrity relationship no one saw coming. They confirmed their relationship back in August 2017, having kept it a secret during last summer's series of Love Island.

What is the prize for Love Island 2018?

As with last year, Love Island 2018 winners Dani and Jack won a massive £50,000 which they decided to share.

In 2017, the prize money was a whopping £50,000. However, before the final took place, producers asked each final couple in secret if they would like to share the money with their partner, or keep it for themselves.

Luckily for last year's winners Kem and Amber, they decided to share the prize money.

Can I still apply for Love Island 2018?

No, unfortunately not! Applications for this year's Love Island closed on the 14th July (yes - after the series had already started)!

What are the cast of Love Island 2017 up to now?

It's funny to think that a year ago we didn't know many of the Love Island 2017 faces, however now they are instantly recognisable. The nation fell in love with the likes of Kem Cetinay, Chris Hughes, Camilla Thurlow, Jamie Jewitt, Marcel Somerville and Jess Shears, so we've decided to take a look at what the 2017 Love Island cast have been up to, almost one year on since they first appeared on our TV screens.

Who won Love Island in 2017?

After an amazing series, Kem Cetinay and Amber Davies were crowned the Love Island 2017 winners at the end of July.

The couple beat competition from the likes of Chris and Olivia, Jamie and Camilla and Marcel and Gabby.

Kem has recently opened up about his struggle with anxiety in an exclusive interview with heatworld. Kem explained he has been suffering from anxiety since he was just 13-years-old. It started when his mum had an operation which went wrong.

"They said she had 24 hours to live," Kem explained, "It brought up anxiety for me that I’d never had before. Then, my anxiety got so bad that I didn’t leave the house for so long."

He went on to explain how he now deals with his anxiety by talking to people, especially his parents, trained therapists and his best pal and fellow Love Islander, Chris Hughes. "When me and Chris met, the first thing we realised was that we both suffered with the same anxiety. We know how to calm each other down," he explained.

Kem continued, "I think that having a close person to you like Chris makes you feel so much more safe and at home, because being in this industry, you feel lost."

Which couples from Love Island 2017 have split up?

Despite the 'L word' being thrown around by everyone during last year's series, not all of the relationships worked out when they left the villa and went into the real world.

Not long after leaving the show, Montana Brown and Alex Beattie were the first couple to break-up, with Montana saying, 'Alex and I have decided to split. Making our relationship work on the outside has been hard. He hasn’t been the same since coming out the villa. Despite this we are still close and I will always support him.'

Despite seeming very loved up on social media, Kem and Amber then announced they'd decided to break-up. After just six months together, Kem told Mail Online, “With sadness, we’ve decided to separate.

"We fell in love in the villa and want to thank all the fans of the show for supporting us."

Amber has now confirmed she is in a new relationship with James Hawkins. James is believed to be a good friend of Olivia Attwood's boyfriend Bradley Dack.

After an on/off/on/off and back on again relationship, Chris Hughes and Olivia Attwood then decided to end their romance for good back in March.

Documenting their struggles on their TV show Chris and Olivia: Crackin' On, the pair went their separate ways with Olivia now being back with her ex-boyfriend Bradley Dack.

We thought Gabby Allen and former Blazin' Squad star Marcel Somerville would be one of the biggest success stories to come out of Love Island 2017, however in May 2018 it was revealed that the couple had split. At the beginning of May, Gabby broke her silence about their split saying, 'Thank you to everyone for your kind messages, love and support. It's been a tough couple of days, i think i might be in a bit of shock! But i'm sure in time i will be ok. i have the best family and friends around me. I'm a lucky girl.' sic

Despite Gabby's words, former Blazin' Squad member Marcel is yet to comment on the allegations.

Which couples from Love Island 2017 are still together?

It's not all bad news for couples from Love Island 2017!

Camilla Thurlow and Jamie Jewitt are still going strong almost a year on. The pair have travelled the world together doing charity work since the show ended last summer.

Despite Jess Shears and Dom Lever's romance becoming slightly derailed during the show, the pair are now 'married'! Jess and Dom tied the knot on Valentine's Day earlier this year when they appeared on Good Morning Britain.

Watch the moment below:

See which other couples from the previous series of Love Island are still together in our video below.

Can I watch past series of Love Island?

Yes! Netflix announced that all episodes from seasons one and two, with winners Jessica Hayes and Max Morley and Cara De La Hoyde and Nathan Massey, are available to bingewatch to your delight. Fantastic news for fans!

Now take a look at these things that you probably didn't know about Love Island.