Can reality stars still make money as influencers?

The cast of this year’s Love Island All Stars, a spin-off featuring former contestants, has been described as “dating royalty” by its makers.

More than half of the 12 islanders heading to the South African villa were finalists on their respective series, while 2022 winner Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu is also rumoured to be entering later on.

Appearing on Love Island was once seen as a route to independent fame and success.

But could the return of names from some of the most popular series be a sign that the once-profitable pipeline from Islander to influencer or TV star is coming to an end?

A well-worn career path for those leaving Love Island is to become an influencer, getting paid by brands to sell anything from cosmetics to cars to social media users.

Perhaps the highest achiever in this role has been 2019 series runner-up Molly-Mae Hague, who went on to work as a creative director for fast fashion brand Pretty Little Thing, and has recently launched her own fashion company.

But Molly-Mae appeared on Love Island at the peak of its popularity. The episode in which she and Tommy Fury lost out to winners Amber Gill and Greg O’Shea is still the show’s most watched ever, attracting over six million viewers.

Hitting these heights isn’t possible for every former cast member, something more recent contestant Tanyel Revan believes aspiring influencers need to be aware of.

“One thing about this industry that people have to remember is that if you don’t maintain it 24/7, which is very hard because it is a bit of a fake lifestyle, you can easily be forgotten,” she tells the BBC.

“I think a lot of influencers go back on All Stars because they need to keep up and have that boost,” she adds.

Tanyel, 28, appeared on a winter series of the show in 2023, when interest was still high (its final was watched by over a million people), but not at the levels Molly-Mae experienced in 2019.

The hairdresser says while she has earned some “extra income” from social media influencing, the haircare company she started before entering the villa is what gives her “stability”.

“I am a businesswoman who has got my own salon,” Tanyel adds.

A lot has changed since Love Island first aired in its current form in 2015. More than 300 people have now appeared on the UK edition of the show – being an ex-Islander is no longer an exclusive club.

For a while, finalists enjoyed rumoured six-figure brand deals with fast fashion companies and sponsored Instagram posts that could earn them thousands.

But according to social media expert and co-founder of Sloane House Marketing, Bryleigh Flack, the appetite for this type of content no longer exists.

“The way we digest content is completely different to how we did even five years ago,” she says.

“There are so many adverts, not even just influencer ads but when you are scrolling, even through your friends’ [Instagram] stories, you’re hit with them, it’s very saturated,” she says.

Bryleigh says big-brand partnerships used to be the best way to make money, but “appealing to the masses” is no longer the best strategy for influencers, thanks to newer platforms like TikTok, which use a different algorithm to choose content for users.

She says there is a new type of content creator in 2025 – the “micro influencer” – who may not have loads of followers, but has a really engaged and specific audience.

These creators “really hone in on their audience and know them”, she adds. “For example, mums with young families or girls that love to go out every weekend, they’re completely different people so trying to market to them both won’t work.”

Billy Brown, who appeared on series eight of Love Island in 2022, says many of the people he was on the show with saw it as an easy route to becoming an influencer.

“I know a lot of people who came out, quit their job and thought that’s it now, but it’s not.

“You can earn a lot of money from that show but if you don’t do well, it’s not the case,” says the 25-year-old, who entered the main villa after impressing fellow contestant Tasha Ghouri in second villa Casa Amor.

Billy, who owns businesses in construction and property development, says that days after leaving the show, he was “getting up at half four in the morning [for work] and then going to a movie premiere at night”.

“I didn’t let it get to my head, I think I was one of the only people who could say ‘look, it’s not all glitz and glam’,” he adds.

Billy has maintained a social media presence in the years since, featuring content on his construction work alongside more lifestyle and sports-focused material.

He says he still earns some money from influencing but thinks that’s due to his personality, rather than his follower count, a relatively modest 115,000. In contrast, Molly-Mae has over eight million.

“People [who go on the show] need to focus on what they like, instead of just being known for being on Love Island.

“You have to have something about you, just being good looking is not going to get you much,” he adds.

Love Island’s cultural relevance has become a topic of conversation in recent years due to falling viewing figures.

At the show’s peak in 2019, it achieved an average of nearly six million viewers, with more recent series in 2023 and 2024 attracting around one to two million.

With the reality TV dating genre’s recent boost from Netflix shows such as Love is Blind, The Ultimatum and Too Hot to Handle, audiences now have more options than ever at their disposal.

Jake Lee, who runs Alpha Talent Group, represents stars from across sport, entertainment and social media.

He manages boxer Tommy Fury and sports presenter Mac Griffiths (known as Michael on Love Island), who both appeared on the aforementioned 2019 series of the show.

“People would come off a show and do adverts for every single company, because these companies would want to take advantage of the quick exposure they could get,” he tells the BBC.

“But four or five months down the line you’d be harming your own career, because you’d used your platform the wrong way and there’d be no credibility there,” he adds.

Jake says more recent reality TV contestants have learnt a lot from the mistakes of their predecessors, who were leaving shows with no real strategy.

“My biggest piece of advice is to go in with your eyes wide open,” he cautions.