Former Love Island winner Amber Davies has said that the ITV2 show’s latest batch of contestants are “signing up for fame.”
Davies and then-boyfriend Kem Cetinay won the public vote to be crowned the third series’ winners in 2017.
Speaking to host Lorraine Kelly on her eponymous chat show, Davies claimed that she and her co-stars hadn’t expected to become famous following their stint in the Majorcan villa, in contrast to the new cohort of singletons.
“When you went in to do it, it was still relatively new, nobody really knew what to expect, people were going in there looking for love,” Kelly asked Davies, who has since landed a major role in the West End production of 9 to 5: The Musical.
“Now though, are they not going in looking for fame?”
“I think it’s inevitable,” Davies said. “Now they know exactly what they’re going in [for] and they know exactly what’s going to happen when they come out.
“They are signing up for fame. We necessarily didn’t, we didn’t. So this year, I think they know what they’re going in there to do, they know what kind of money they’ll be coming out to.”
The actress went on to describe her experience of the show’s aftercare as “unbelievable and amazing,” after ITV unveiled a revised duty of care process in response to the death of two former contestants, Davies’ co-star Mike Thalassitis and series two star Sophie Gradon.
Davies and Cetinay announced that they had split up in December 2017, four months after their win. They blamed their “schedules” for making things “difficult,” and said that they hoped to “remain good friends.”
Lorraine airs weekdays from 8.30am on ITV. Love Island returns to ITV2 at 9pm tonight.
