07.01.2023 - 20:07 / usmagazine.com
The villa’s guidelines! Every contestant who’s in search of romance on Love Island must follow a set of rules enforced by the show — and if they don’t, they face elimination.
The reality show, which first premiered in England and now has counterparts across the globe, centers around a group of singles who move into a luxurious island villa with the hopes of falling in love and winning the $100,000 prize. On their first day, the participants must pair up with one of their costars.
Over time, the duos can uncouple and switch partners. Anyone who ends up single gets eliminated — but viewers can also vote off different participants throughout the season. To make things even more difficult, new additions make their way to the tropical destination to test the islanders’ relationships. In the final week, the at-home audience votes for the winner.
Even though the contestants are living in paradise, they do have a strict set of rules they must follow so they can remain on the show. One of the most serious rules is no violence, bullying or inappropriate language — a guideline that several contestants have broken over the years, including two occasions where certain cast members have been removed from the series after getting into an altercation.
In season 5 of the U.K. show, Sherif Lanre was sent home after he accidentally kicked Molly-Mae Hague in her crotch during a play fight and made an insensitive joke about it after. His exit came nine days after the show’s 2019 premiere. At the time, ITV issued a statement on behalf of Lanre. “In a case of poor judgment, I broke the villa rules and as a result agreed with the producers that it was best for me to leave the villa,” the message read.
Contestants are also not allowed to use their