After appearing on Love Island, contestants – whether they win or not – can make millions by working as influencers, TV stars and launching their own businesses.
But how much did this year’s Love Islanders earn before they entered the famous villa?
Rugby player, dressage rider, paramedic, nanny and real estate agent are just some of the jobs the 2022 contestants do.
While some of the cast will no doubt return to their day jobs after appearing on the show, price comparison site idealo.co.uk has delved into their career histories to see who makes the most money as it stands.
Here’s what we know about the kind of salaries the current Love Islanders were on before they were famous.
Jacques O’Neill - £90,000 to £140,000
As a professional rugby player, Gemma Owen’s ex-boyfriend Jacques O’Neill is this year’s highest earner.
The 23-year-old from Cumbria plays for Castleford Tigers in the Betfred Super League.
He made his professional debut at the age of 20 and was selected for the England Knights Performance squad last year, aimed at developing talented players.
However, a hamstring injury last summer meant he only made six appearances on the pitch.
Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu - £16,000 soap star
Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu is a Turkish actress who splits her time between London and Istanbul.
The 27-year-old, who hails from Essex, is estimated to earn around £16,000 an episode from her appearances on Turkish soap opera Kuzey Yildiz, which translates to North Star.
On a date with Liam, who has since left the villa, she revealed she had played some “really weird characters” including a serial killer.
She also stared in another 'reality show' while she was at university.
Ekin-Su had one of the biggest social media followings before she entered this year’s villa with 340,000 followers, which could equate to £1,000 per sponsored post.
Her current Instagram following alone has increased to almost 400,000 since she’s been in Love Island and she counts the likes of TOWIE’s Pete Wicks and James Locke as followers.
Gemma Owen – Over £15,000 per win
At 19, Gemma Owen is the youngest of this year’s Love Island contestants and is known for being ex-England footballer Michael Owen’s daughter.
Aside from having a famous dad, she is a professional sportswoman in her own right and works as an international dressage rider.
She has competed for England since she was 11 and is thought to earn around £15,000 per win.
She also has her own swimwear brand ‘OG Beachwear’ which reportedly made a loss in its last financial year.
But with an Instagram following of 82,000 before entering the villa, Gemma could have been making around £700 per sponsored post.
Now this has risen to over 337,000 she can expect to learn a lot more when she leaves.
Andrew Le Page - £50,000 plus commission
At 27, Andrew Le Page is one of this year’s oldest Love Island contestants – and one of the top earners.
Originally from Guernsey, he works as a real estate agent and is currently living in Dubai.
It is thought his base pay is around £50,000 a year, but this doesn’t include commission from when he makes a sale, so it could be a lot more.
Tasha Ghouri – It’s complicated, but she’s doing alright
Love Island’s first deaf contestant Tasha Ghouri has pledged to give half the £50,000 prize money to the National Deaf Children’s Society if she wins, so she’s doing alright for herself.
The 23-year-old from Thirsk, North Yorkshire, works as a model and professional dancer so it's difficult to calculate how much she earns from her different jobs.
She has performed for choreographer Joshua Base Pilmore at the dance event Move It in London – and was also rumoured to have dated Strictly star Giovanni Pernice before the show.
In 2021, Tasha went viral for modelling ASOS earrings wearing her cochlear implant – something she calls her proudest achievement so far for the awareness it brought to the deaf community.
Tasha has also modelled for Pull & Bear, Missguided, Pretty Little Thing and Boux Avenue.
With a following of over £150,000 Instagram followers alone, she can expect big brand collaborations on the way when she leaves the villa.
Dami Hope - £31,500
He may have dubbed himself a ‘Verified Playboy’ before entering the Love Island villa, but there’s a lot more to Dami Hope than flirting and muscle.
The 26-year-old Irishman is actually a senior microbiologist who “specialises in conducting studies and research, focusing on micro-organisms”.
The Dublin based scientist is thought to earn around £31,500 a year at the moment.
But with over 50,000 followers on Instagram, he can expect to earn a lot more when he leaves the show.
Paige Thorne - £30,600
Welsh girl Paige Thorne has worked as an NHS paramedic for the past two years and is currently earning around £30,600 a year.
The 24-year-old from Swansea is currently the new female favourite to win so she can expect her salary to skyrocket if she does.
If she returns to her job as a key worker she can expect her wages to rise to almost £40,000 in five years.
But with over 150,000 Instagram followers alone, she could also have a career as an influencer after the villa.
Davide Sanclimenti - £29,000
With a Master’s in Finance and Banking, you’d think Davide Sanclimenti would be earning a bit more than £29,000 at the age of 27.
But the Italian stallion – who has a self-proclaimed ‘perfect body’ – runs his own electronic shisha business outside the villa and that is only his estimated earnings so far.
Originally from Rome, he supplies shisha devices to bars and clubs in the north of England and is currently based in Manchester.
But with almost £100,000 Instagram followers, he is set to earn big bucks – probably with health and fitness brands – when he leaves the villa, as he hasn’t missed a workout in 10 years.
Amber Beckford - £28,600
Before entering the Love Island villa, Londoner Amber Beckford worked as a nanny with an estimated annual salary of £28,600.
During the week the 24-year-old says she is “basically a mother” who turns a few heads at the school gates.
But at the weekend she revealed she turns into a “opinionated wild child”.
With over 50,000 followers on Instagram, she can expect to earn a lot more when she leaves Love Island.
Ikenna Ekwonna - £25,000
Ikenna Ekwonna has a degree in Biomed Science and works in pharmaceutical sales in his hometown of Nottingham.
The 23-year-old is currently earning around £25,000 a year as a graduate but can expect to double this throughout his career.
The Love Islander is also 6ft 5 and works as a personal trainer on the side and has an Instagram account called @ikennafitness.
His personal Instagram account has now amassed over 47,000 followers, so he can expect to make some money off that too.
Indiyah Polack - £22,435+
Although Indiya Polack works as a waitress in London earning around £22,435 a year, she also has a side hustle.
Before she entered the villa she already had an impressive 28,000 followers on Instagram, which could have allowed her to charge brands around £370 per sponsored post.
Since she’s been on Love Island this has increased to a whopping 122,000 in the first week alone, so what she can charge per post will be significantly higher now.
She’s hoping her exposure on the show will also make some famous men slide into her DM’s.
Luca Bish - £23,400
We know he’s called Luca Bish and he sells fish – but did you know he also has a degree is Fishing and Fisheries Sciences & Management.
The 23-year-old Brighton lad currently works as fishmonger in his hometown earning around £23,400 a year, making him the lowest earner in this year’s Love Island.
But with his good looks, a possible romance with Gemma and an Instagram following of 175,000 he’s set for big things when he leaves the villa.
*Love Island continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2
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