Love Island stars who ditched extreme diets and exercise to embrace a natural look – from new dad to star who gained 2st
Love Island is returning to our screens next week - and that means we’re about to see tons of young, sexy, toned singletons in tiny swimwear.
Every year a new batch of beautiful people - usually with barely an inch of fat on them - enter the villa.
But, as series four Love Islander Ellie Brown admitted, many of them have been on strict diets in a bid to look in tip-top shape, ready for the show.
She previously said: "One of the biggest myths about Love Island is that we look so toned, tanned and skinny all the time.
"In reality, I practically starved myself going into the villa — eating nothing but fish and vegetables for months and spending hours sweating away in the gym each day."
For this reason, many of the former Love Islanders have put on a few pounds since they left the villa.
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Some, like Molly-Mae Hague, have admitted they needed to put on weight to feel healthier.
Here we take a look at the changing bodies of our favourite former villa residents.
Jamie Jewitt
When Jamie Jewitt, 31, entered the Love Island villa in series three, he was a model with perfectly chiselled abs.
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But in October 2020, he and his now-wife Camilla Thurlow - whom he met on Love Island - became parents to their eldest daughter, Nell.
Jamie took to Instagram to show off the “dad bod” he had acquired to go with his new role - later admitting he'd put on five stone since leaving the villa in 2017.
In April this year, Jamie began following Muscle Food's GOAL GETTERS Lean Machine plan and now looks great.
He added: "Weight loss for me will always be about health and happiness as I had no issue with my body image at a heavier weight it was more the fact that I felt unhealthy.
"I'm still heavier than when I came out of Love Island, but I feel much happier at this new weight."
This month the couple welcomed their second child, daughter Nora Belle Jewitt.
Chris Hughes
Chris Hughes, 28, entered the Love Island villa in the third series in 2017.
He got together with Olivia Attwood on the show, and the couple came third, but they split up not long after the show.
Chris went on to date former Little Mix star Jesy Nelson, but they broke up in 2020 and he's now seeing Annabel Dimmock.
Chris no longer has the rippling abs he had during his time on the show, but he’s admitted he’s happier without them.
Farmer-turned-influencer Chris said he found it “difficult” to stay in shape over lockdown and hates going to the gym.
Last year he stripped off to take an ice bath live on ITV Racing, and told The Sun: “When I did that ice bath challenge I was like, ‘God, my body does not look like it did four years ago in Love Island’.
“But I’m happy in my own skin. It doesn’t make me any less happy with what I am now.”
In toned holiday snaps from December, Chris looks like he may have braved the gym to get back his abs.
Molly-Mae Hague
Molly-Mae Hague entered the Love Island villa in series five - and ended up falling in love with Tommy Fury, brother of Tyson Fury.
Since leaving the show, she revealed she put on two stone, "even though it might not look like it”.
Molly told her followers last year: “That is because I've not trained, I've not watched what I've been eating and I've stopped exercising - before that, I was exercising every day.
“I just stopped because I had work to focus on."
Despite her weight gain, Molly is happier than ever.
She added: "It's fine, I put on some weight, and I always say this to my family: I'm the happiest I've ever been! I'm the happiest I've ever been and it's the most I've ever weighed, so it does correlate.”
Ellie Brown
Ellie Brown insisted there was ";no real pressure" from producers to get in shape before appearing on the show, but knew people would "have opinions".
She said: “If you knew you were going on national TV, wouldn’t you want to look your best?”
Ellie spent two-and-a-half hours a day in the gym for the two months before she entered the villa.
“I hired a personal trainer for weight training, then would spend the rest sweating away on the treadmill,” she explained.
And when it came to her diet, all she would eat was white fish and vegetables “about five times a day,” with fruit even being off the menu!
She didn’t touch a drop of booze for those eight weeks either.
She said: “I looked amazing, but that diet really isn’t sustainable.
“I’d end some days completely exhausted because my body wasn’t getting all the nutrients it needed — and, of course, the meals became SO boring.”
Following her time on the show, Ellie “put on a stone or so,” and confessed she sobbed when she started getting trolled for her weight gain.
However, she insists she’s happier now.
“What the shamers need to realise is that there's a difference between someone who is unhealthy and overweight, and someone who's just a normal size,” she said.
“I'm perfectly fit and happy now — just as I was before Love Island.”
Tyne-Lexy Clarson
Tyne-Lexy took part in the third series of Love Island - weighing 9st at the time.
But the brunette beauty told The Sun she went up two dress sizes, tipping the scales at 10st 11lbs a year after leaving the villa.
She said her weight gain came after being put under pressure to be in "tip-top shape" to find love on reality TV.
Tyne-Lexy told us: "The contestants are under the huge pressure to look good on Love Island and it is tough to maintain that figure when the cameras go away.
"I was in the best shape of my life on the show. You need to be because there is intense competition not just from the girls but also the boys to look good.
"Anyone who is not in tip-top shape risks being dumped from the show when they are no longer coupled up.
"I have let myself go a bit."
She went on a health kick following the weight gain, and started going back to the gym five times a week.
We think she looks gorgeous at any size.
Shaughna Phillips
Shaughna Phillips entered the Love Island villa in series six, and was a size eight at the time, having lost 4st.
But just months after the show finished, the coronavirus pandemic hit.
During lockdown, Shaughna admitted she put on 2st and went up to a size 14.
"I definitely indulged a lot more than I used to when it came to food,” she told fans on Instagram. "I did end up gaining quite a bit of weight. I gained two stone."
Last year Shaughna had an operation to remove two litres of fat from her thighs.
She was treating a condition called lipoedema - an abnormal build-up of fat in the legs and bum.
Shaughna regrets clouding her time on Love Island with worries about her body image, and says leaving the villa to a supportive fan-base helped her accept herself.
She is now using the experience as fuel for her new lifestyle and fitness app Be You With Shaughna, which aims to put the fun back into exercise.
Earlier this month she said: "I haven't weighed myself in about two years. I try and go by how my clothes look on me. As long as I feel comfortable and happy, that's the scale I use now."
Amber Gill
She ended up winning series five of Love Island - along with Greg O’Shea.
But after being flung into the spotlight, Amber Gill put on 17lb in 2020.
She didn’t even realise until she went to put on a size 10 pair of trousers and found they were too tight.
But she wasn’t bothered by what the scales said - or about the people trolling her on TikTok. An abandoned exercise routine and fast food-heavy diet had left her feeling sluggish and lacking in motivation.
She previously told The Sun: “Like most people during lockdown, I was always in joggers, so it was hard to tell that I’d put on weight because they’re stretchy!
"I just think it happened because the most important thing for me during that time was surviving... I’m not a person who is overly bothered by a number on the scales, but I did start to notice the extra ‘bits’ and I knew I needed to exercise more for my mental health and to be the best version of myself.”
Amber joined forces with personal trainer Jon Hosking and the two began working out in the park.
The routines they developed together were based around Amber’s love of combat training, focusing on cardio and conditioning, and she quickly rediscovered her mojo.
She lost a stone in six weeks and said she felt in better shape than she did on Love Island.
It was never about what size my waist was or anything like that. It was about getting back to being healthy and active," she said.
In January she revealed she was forced to quit her gym after discovering a man had been taking photos of her without her knowing.
Amber now spends most of her time in Dubai, saying it makes her “happier and less anxiety ridden” there.
Curtis Pritchard
Curtis Pritchard was trolled for gaining two stone while he was in the Love Island villa in series five - and he blamed the cheesecake!
Speaking to , he said: ”'When I came out of Love Island I put two stone on in weight. I was enjoying the show's cheesecake too much.
“At one point a producer said to me, ‘Curtis we have actually counted how many slices of cheesecake you have with each meal and the most was five slices’ – I like my cheesecake, what can I say!”
After the show ended, Curtis went on a health kick and joined Weight Watchers in a bid to lose the extra stones.
“My main goal was to have a healthy relationship with food so I didn't have to do a crash diet and binge and now my body weight has dropped to its natural size,” he said.
Once he’d got back to his pre-Love Island size, Curtis continued with his fitness transformation by decreasing his portion size and prolonging the time he takes to eat meals.
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And it seems his efforts have paid off, as last year he said he felt better than ever after also incorporating running and regular gym sessions into his routine.
We reckon these Love Islanders look great whatever size they are!
