It seems there is a third villa linked to Love Island beyond the main house and Casa Amor – with the Islanders housed together in another property that is never seen on screen.
Former Love Island star Olivia Attwood has shared the intriguing behind-the-scenes detail, saying that the finalists get taken out of the main house to stay somewhere else before the live final.
The 30-year-old reality star – who was a finalist in the third series of the show back in 2017 – says the contestants live in the secret third villa for a full day before the live final.
The reason behind the last minute move is so that producers of the show can draft in an army of workmen to effectively transform the main villa into a live final studio.
DIY experts and decorators are brought in to the main villa to give the house a make-over and install a stage for the final.
Olivia revelled all to OK! magazine, explaining that the Islanders get to relax away from the cameras and the main villa for their last few hours on the show.
She said: "The final day of the villa like all the filming of the show is done, so you go to another villa nearby and you're kind of there for the day.
"It's a completely different one to Casa Amor, a smaller one. It's basically a way to keep you out of the way."
She went on to explain that the couples are given a little more freedom for their final day to relax as they choose away from the cameras.
Olivia said: "You've kind of got the day off. You chill, you have the day together, you put music on and have a little BBQ.
Because in that time they're transforming the main villa and putting in the stage and all the stuff they have to build. The whole villa turns into a construction site. That's happening over those 24 hours.
"So that day you get ready and relax and film some pre-title stuff. Then it's the live final."
On Monday night, Love Island fans saw Millie Court, 24, and Liam Reardon, 21, crowned the winners of the 2021 series – with the couple scooping the £50,000 prize which they split between them.
And while the duo have spent practically every waking, and sleeping, moment together over the past few weeks, they say they won’t be moving in together just yet.
Liam explained during a post-victory interview: Millie and I will move in together eventually. We’ve been living together in the villa together for the past 7/8 weeks. We don’t want to jump into living together straight away because we don’t want to add too much pressure.”
While Millie added: “We haven’t been away from each other yet to miss each other and do those things that you do in normal relationships. But us girls [from the villa] will rent a house in Essex, boys will rent a house in Essex, see how that goes for six months and then get a crack on with it [moving in together].”
The pair are also amused by the fact fans have branded them a ‘real life Gavin and Stacey’ as Liam is from Wales and Millie is from Essex.
Liam laughed: “I absolutely love Gavin & Stacey. It’s a classic – Essex/ Wales. It’s an amazing show – to be compared to that is a compliment, it’s funny. It is a real-life Gavin & Stacey!”
