Yahoo News Love Island 'fixed'? LOADS of islanders were scouted
Love Island was hit with "fix!" claims when news broke that Olivia Attwood didn't actually apply to be on the show but was sought out by producers.
Her mum Jennifer let the 'secret' slip during a live interview – and the bombshell sent social media into meltdown.
Now, Digital Spy has an even bigger exclusive to let fans in on: Olivia isn't the only islander who was scouted by producers.
We can confirm that Montana Brown, Camilla Thurlow and Harley Judge were all scouted by the ITV casting team and were asked to be on the show. We know because they told us right from the start.
In fact, Montana was asked twice! She was originally approached by ITV to be on last year's series with stars like Cara De La Hoyde, Kady McDermott and Terry Walsh.
However, she had to turn the offer down as filming clashed with her university deadlines – but luckily, show bosses got in touch again earlier this year.
She told us: "I got approached in a club, which was quite weird because I wasn't expecting [ITV] to be in there!
"After I turned them down, we kept in touch and this year they asked me back and I thought, 'You know what, I'm going to do it!'"
It probably comes as no surprise that Camilla had no intention of appearing on Love Island at all. When she was approached, she initially didn't even want to take the opportunity, but casting directors managed to change her mind.
"I didn't actually apply, I was approached initially," Cam explained. "When I first got asked I was like, 'Oh gosh, will I be able to do this?' But I had a few meetings with the team and they were all so friendly."
Like Cam, Harley didn't plan on becoming an islander either. But he was scouted at a bodybuilding exhibition and was asked to consider giving it a go.
"I was working at Body Power Expo at the time and I was actually quite rude to [the casting team]," he laughed. "I thought they were trying to push in line so I said to them, 'Look, you're going to have to go to the back of the queue, mate and stop pushing in – the queues were about three hours long!
"Then they said to me, 'We were actually hoping to talk to you'. We exchanged details and a little while later, I was at ITV with a camera in my face. It was all so quick!"
When Digital Spy found all of this out, we pulled ITV up on why they didn't pick islanders from the thousands of applicants they received this year – has the series all been a fix?
Of course not!
Yes, some of the islanders were approached by ITV but they did also spend a heck of a lot of time going through the applications they received.
Islanders like Jessica Shears, Dom Lever, Gabby Allen and Kem Cetinay were all picked to be on the show this year after sending their applications through.
But to make sure they got the best line-up possible (and decent matches), ITV also had a casting team that looked for islanders who could make great TV – who perhaps wouldn't necessarily have thought about applying.
Thank goodness they did take this approach. If it hadn't been for this way of thinking, we wouldn't have our new reality TV queen, Camilla. It's also worth bearing in mind that pretty much every reality show has a casting team, including Big Brother, Ex on the Beach and even X Factor.
But show bosses don't do this to fix the results; It's just how producers ensure they deliver the best show – hence why Love Island has been so amazing this year.
And if it was to fix the outcome, why aren't islanders banned from talking about it? And why were ITV so open about the subject from the very start of the series? Exactly.
Oh and just to clarify, Olivia was never secretive about the fact that she didn't have to audition.
Before going into the villa, she told Digital Spy: "Someone from ITV approached me, that was what originally alerted me to Love Island."
Love Island is on ITV2, daily at 9pm.
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