Is Love Island staged? Former contestant reveals behind-the-scenes secrets

Former Love Island star Tyla Carr has claimed that parts of the popular reality show are staged by producers who direct the contestants on how to behave.

The 25-year-old model, who appeared in last year’s series, revealed that key scenes are often reshot and contestants were guided to discuss particular topics.

“What viewers don’t see is there is always a producer on site; they don’t live in the villa with us but someone generally comes in every hour to have a chat,” Carr said.

“They tell you what they want you to talk about, and who with. You have to tell the producers on site if you are planning to have an important chat or do something, so they make sure the microphones pick it up and the cameras get it. If you forget, they would call you in and ask you to film it again.”

She claims fellow contestant Olivia Attwood had to dump her Love Island boyfriend Sam Gowland twice last year so that producers could perfect the footage, which was “embarrassing for both of them”.

Speaking to the Daily Star, Carr said producers do not make contestants do anything that has not already happened or anything that they don’t want to do.

“But they would prompt you,” she added. “They may suggest it would be a good idea if you brought something up or discussed something.

“Basically, if you’ve had three separate conversations with someone, they may ask you to have the conversation again all in one go to make it better viewing.”

A spokesman for the show told the newspaper: “It is absolutely untrue to suggest Love Island is fake. The opinions they have and the relationships formed are completely within the control of the Islanders themselves.

“As we have said since series one, Love Island is a combination of reality and produced elements. Any produced elements are designed to allow viewers to understand what the Islanders are feeling and to help move narrative threads on.”