Wait, what? Love Island stars will be paid just £250 a week this year
We genuinely thought that reality television stars in this day and age earned their fare share of cash, otherwise why are they so hell-bent on staying relevant?
Apparently not this year. According to The Daily Star, the stars of 2019's Love Island will be paid just £250 a week this summer. That's not even minimum wage, so it's fairly surprising.
Thousands of young men and women have applied to appear on the ITV2 show this year, despite the recent suicides of ex-contestants Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon.
The winners of the cash prize receive £50,000… which is quite the step up from their weekly wages. Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham won the competition last year, and earned plenty more through sponsorships and appearances,
However, some past contestants claim the show fails to properly prepare the participants for the difficulties of appearing in public and on social media.
Mental health struggles, trolling and depression have been raised as issues which the series allegedly contributes to. Many who made the final line-up have quit their jobs or been granted extended leave to join the Spanish villa, but is it worth it?
The Daily Star have affirmed that the ITV bosses are paying the islanders just £250 a week to “compensate” for giving up time to be on the show. If they last the entire eight weeks, they bag £2,000, which isn't much.
The majority of contestants only last a couple of days, and get just £250 as a result. One source said: “Everyone now knows that stepping into that villa brings good and bad things.
“They risk coming out and being trolled on Twitter, their dreams of being a big reality star dashed, work dries up and ending up feeling depressed and having issues.”
2017 contestant Zara Holland has even called for the show to be taken off the air.
Strictly Come Dancing's AJ Pritchard's brother, Curtis, has just been announced for the 2019 line-up. The 23-year-old is already a fan favourite, so time will tell whether he becomes one of the 'originals'.
Love Island 2019 begins on June 3, get yourselves ready gals.
Feature image: Instagram/pinterest.com
