Last night saw ITV’s (LON:ITV) hit reality TV show Love Island return to our screens for its first ever Winter edition of the show.
Islanders entered a villa in South Africa, where they will couple up and aim to find love over the next few weeks.
Viewers will vote for their favourite couple as they endure several relationship tests, with the winning couple taking home a £50,000 prize.
However, one of the main reasons why many contestants enter the villa is not necessarily for the cash prize at the end, because often that is just the beginning of the fortune they will make.
Indeed, these contestants will be in the public eye for weeks, and they will leave the villa with far more followers on their social media pages than when they first entered.
Even the contestants who don’t win the show find themselves with a large amount of followers and a head start in commencing their careers as social influencers.
The level of fame and exposure that the contestants receive has the potential to make them millionaires.
Last year’s winner Amber Gill earned £1 million after she signed a deal with the clothing business MissPap.
new year = new @amberrosegill x misspap ‘fits 💯 it’s officially the four day countdown until our next amber x misspap edit drops on site 🙌🏼 launching 16.01.20 📸 https://t.co/fxucRao17G pic.twitter.com/GpXaQ1LV2p
— MISSPAP (@misspap) January 12, 2020
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Additionally, though last year’s contestant Molly-Mae Hague may not have won, she did sign a £500,000 deal with the clothing retailer PrettyLittleThing.
ITS OFFICIAL !!! PRETTYLITTLETHING X MOLLY-MAE @OfficialPLT 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/YwNxlYSaOz
— Molly-Mae (@mollymaehague) September 1, 2019
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Many of last year’s Islanders have landed themselves contracts in the fashion world, and that’s just from one year’s worth of contestants.
Perhaps some of the contestants do genuinely enter the villa to find love, but the level and fame and fortune that these people receive upon leaving the show is undeniable.
Shares in ITV plc (LON:ITV) were up on Monday morning, trading at +0.2% as of 11:22 GMT.
