LOVE ISLAND RICH LIST
The Love Island rich list: from the star whose Instagram endorsements are worth just £150 to the personalities set to rake in £1m
THE Love Island final may still be a long way off, but for the fame-hungry contestants, the battle to spin a reality-TV appearance into a lasting career is already well underway.
From the moment they check out, stars can cash in on event appearances, ad campaigns and social media partnerships... and some of the islanders set to make the most money are the ones you wouldn't necessarily expect.
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Jonny Mitchell, one of the stars of last year's Love Island, says he made over £1m off the back of the show, and now he runs a talent agency, Syndicate Mgmt, to help other TV personalities do the same.
"I imagine the islanders will be making more money this year," he told Sun Online. "It's not out of the realms of possibility to make over a million if there's a long-term strategy involved."
Obviously it's early days, but Jonny tells us there are two stars who leap out as having major earning potential at this early stage.
"Jack is a funny guy," he says. "He's very likeable and is the sort of guy who'd get more work when he comes out. Adam is also a good looking guy. He's certainly going to get work with fashion companies."
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Muggy money
Andrew Bloch, founder of , reckons that the muggiest and most memorable personalities are likely to make the most money, and he predicted that these controversial characters could end up amassing huge fortunes.
"In the short term, they should all be able to make six figures relatively easily," he told us. "But there will be a handful who will go on and develop longer term careers and build themselves into personalities in their own right.
"It's very early days in the show but you've got a couple of pantomime villains starting to emerge like Adam and Megan. It's those ones that really stand out."
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When it comes to the more likeable stars, Dani and Jack are apparently the ones to watch, since they make a good double act - something which can boost islanders' earning potential.
Meanwhile, Eyal - even though he's already out - and Dr Alex also stand out as potential big winners, Andrew says, because they are very different from the Love Island status quo.
And surprisingly, things are looking very good for Hayley, also evicted, because she's in a unique position to milk her fame while the other big names are trapped on set.
"She's got an advantage now of being out the villa while everyone else is still in it," the publicity guru said. "There are a lot of opportunities for her, as there will be for Eyal now he's out."
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Big bucks
"With Love Island, there's an opportunity to make a lot of money if they play the game right," Andrew adds.
"They could make anything from £2,000 for doing an Instagram post or turning up at an event. If the endorsement becomes more than a one-off they could be looking at fees of £8,000 - £10,000.
"Some brands will do affiliate deals and give them a commission from everything they sell off their social media. These deals can go into the tens of thousands comfortably."
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Jonny agrees that the big brand deals are key to cashing in big time.
"Too many management companies concentrate on the immediate stuff and when it dries up that's a worry," he says. "But you've got to find a niche. I know a few of the girls from my year who signed contracts with fashion companies for £300,000."
The key to milking those opportunities lies in social media, where stars will either propel themselves to real fame or fade into the background.
Brand deals and sponsored social media posts are bread and butter for today's reality stars, and past winners Kem Centinay and Amber Davies have used their online presence to cash in big-time after leaving the island.
Today, Kem is reportedly worth around £750,000 - and he can make up to £8,600 for a single sponsored Instagram post to his 2.1m followers.
Meanwhile, his Island partner, Amber, can make up to £6,900 per post to her 1.6m followers, and has secured a lucrative £500,000 deal with fashion label Motel Rocks.
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Follow the money
While they're in the villa, most of the stars are relying on their friends and family to keep up their online presence - which is essential to build a long-term platform.
Freddie White is a talent manager at , the agency which handles publicity for Gabby Allen, Olivia Buckland and now Eyal Booker, so he knows how valuable social media can be.
He told Sun Online: "You can expect Love Island contestants to earn anything from £20,000 to £1 million pounds a year.
"But the key to being successful with social media, and subsequently a media career, is maintaining the same kind of posts and morals that the contestants had before entering the villa.
"Brands and production companies know that if the personality has a large and interactive following it’s clear that the public are still interested and keeping up with their lives, and therefore will naturally buy into other projects."
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The phemomenon of Love Islanders using their Instagram as a way to get rich is so well documented that even Caroline Flack has poked fun at the number of ex Islanders pushing "teeth whitening deals" - but who is best placed to rake it in from Instagram this year?
We used to calculate a rough estimate of how much one post is worth from each of the islanders' Instagram accounts, based on how many followers they have.
It's a good indicator of how much brands will be willing to pay for sponsored posts... but who is on for teeth whitening fortune and whose account is only worth a few hundred quid?
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Who's winning and losing the Love Island follower fight?
Dani Dyer
Instagram followers: 1,000,000
Value per post: £4,000 +
No doubt buoyed by her famous father and previous Survival Of The Fittest appearance, Dani is smashing the Insta game.
Her feed - which was super glam before she entered the villa - is now home to a load of funny pictures of her and banter about her antics in the villa, posted by her best friend while she's away.
Jack Fincham
Instagram followers: 660,000
Value per post: £2,800
The Dani effect may be helping this friendly pen salesman, since fans love his loved-up shots of the couple together.
His feed also posts clips from the show and self-deprecating banter - all uploaded by a team of friends and family managing his account.
Kendall-Rae Knight
Instagram followers: 610,000
Value per post: £2,500
She may have been the first out, but Kendall is smashing the game over on Instagram, where her feed has transformed from night-out photos and motivational quotes to backstage studio shots and already some promo for bookies William Hill.
Alex George
Instagram followers: 590,000
Value per post: £2,500
Dr Alex's old posts included plenty of shots showing him in his scrubs, as well as a load of him and his mates, but now he's a TV star, Alex's feed largely consists of banter about drama in the villa.
Eyal Booker
Instagram followers: 570,000
Value per post: £2,500
Clearly, the Insta shots of Eyal and the island boys went down a treat while his account was run by his brother... although it's back to the picture-perfect model shots for now.
Niall Aslam
Instagram followers: 500,000
Value per post: £2,300
Niall's follower count is boosted by some shirtless island pics and a bit of "rainbow fish"-themed banter - but it's back to shots of him and his pals for now.
Adam Collard
Instagram followers: 470,000
Value per post: £2,000
Controversial Adam's fans have been enjoying the knowing bants about how muggy he is - a change from the relentless stream of shirtless gym photos before he went into the villa.
Wes Nelson
Instagram followers: 460,000
Value per post: £2,000
Pre-island, you were more likely to find him posting gym shots and cool night-out photos, but now Wes' feed is the #1 destination for Love Island #bants, with funny memes shared daily on his feed by his friends and family.
Megan Barton Hanson
Instagram followers: 450,000
Value per post: £2,000
Muggy Megan's feed is made up of glamorous stills from the villa... making for a slightly less racy feed than when it was dominated by shots from her modelling days.
Laura Anderson
Instagram followers: 450,000
Value per post: £2,000
Laura is middle of the pack when it comes to her Insta presence, although she may later regret all those adoring pics of her and Wes. Thankfully, the friends running her account have now seamlessly pivoted to shady posts about Megan and love for the other girls.
Before the show, you could catch the air hostess documenting her travels around the world or sharing the odd motivational quote.
Rosie Williams
Instagram followers: 400,000
Value per post: £1,700
Pre-island, Rosie loved a good night out photo and holiday snap, and when the show started fans flocked to pics of her with Adam and the girls. It can't hurt that her account also shared the now-infamous sexy photo shoot she did with Megan.
Georgia Steel
Instagram followers: 380,000
Value per post: £1,500
Gee's feed is full of love for Josh, as well as a tide of photos featuring her and her other island besties - and her follower count is gaining momentum at one of the fastest rates.
Samira Mighty
Instagram followers: 340,000
Value per post: £1,400
Samira's Instagram - currently run by two friends - pumps out a post every other day, on average.
Before she entered the villa, you would most likely see her posing for selfies and sharing her daily outfits, but now her account is full of jokey posts about island drama and appreciation for Sam.
Hayley Hughes
Instagram followers: 290,000
Value per post: £1,200
Hayley's string of Island bikini shots were posted to the account by her mum while she was away, and now she's back to sharing photos from modelling jobs and nights out.
Josh Denzel
Instagram followers: 230,000
Value per post: £1,000
Josh is a bit lacking in the follower department - despite the two friends running his account pumping out a tide of jokey Love Island memes and shade towards his rivals.
Zara McDermott
Instagram followers: 200,000
Value per post: £900
Government adviser Zara's feed was full of stunning swimsuit photos before she came in, and Adam featured heavily on her Insta before she was booted off.
Ellie Brown
Instagram followers: 140,000
Value per post: £600
Before going into the villa, Ellie's timeline was full of glam night-out selfies, but shots of her and Alex's doomed romance have filled up most of the feed since Love Island started.
Charlie Frederick
Instagram followers: 120,000
Value per post: £500
Oh boy. Charlie was gracelessly flung from the villa as collateral damage when Hayley was voted off, and he ended up with nowhere near enough time to build a substantial following.
Now his short run on the island is over, it looks like he's back to filling his feed with topless modelling photos... unless he ends up returning to the villa, that is.
Sam Bird
Instagram followers: 40,000
Value per post: £150
Sam's friends and family have been posting up to four pics a day - mostly memes or Samira appreciation posts - since he joined the show.
Before then, you could expect to see shirtless holiday snaps, PT action shots and model-style posed photos all over his feed. Unfortunately, it's not proved to be a winning strategy so far.
