From How Much They Get Paid To Who The Super Fans Are — All Your Love Island Questions Answered

Love Island Australia is always full of drama, where flirty twenty-somethings couple up and try to stay together while resisting the temptations of new cast members called bombshells.

As we watch contestants go on sexy dates, receive cheeky text messages, complete very amusing challenges and make explosive decisions at the 'recoupling' and 'dumping' ceremonies, there are a lot of questions that still go unanswered about behind-the-scenes details that make it the addictive watch that it is.

But that mystery ends here. From what the islanders actually eat to who sends the infamous texts, we've rounded up the most frequently asked questions about Love Island Australia and have the juicy answers right here — straight from the producers' mouths.

The Love Island Australia cast is required to cook their own breakfasts — think smoothies, toast and eggs.

However, lunch and dinner are catered for the cast so they can enjoy time away from the kitchen to develop their romances instead.

Every episode, we see certain contestants receive a text from a mystery sender, either signalling a new arrival or challenge, or that host Sophie Monk is on her way in for another elimination.

As expected, the producers send these texts when the time calls for a little more drama in the villa.

Love Island Australia contestants can absolutely say no to going on a date with a bombshell or other cast member, but there hasn't been an instance so far where that's happened.

There is no set time that the islanders go to sleep and wake up. It all depends on what is happening in the villa. Sometimes, if there is a lot going on — some drama between the islanders or deep and meaningful chats — they can go to bed quite late. But the producers say that "they always get enough sleep so they have a lot of energy for the next day's fun and frivolity in the villa."

The producers tell Refinery29 Australia that no, they can’t text each other on their phones. They can receive texts for challenges or when there is a dumping, but that's it.

They are, however, allowed to take as many pictures as they like with their phones — which they certainly do all day and night.

Turns out, they often do it themselves and with each other. While they look like they've walked straight out of a hair studio, the amount of free time in the villa means they'll often all DIY their own beauty routines. "They are all very proud of how they look and we find they help each other out during the filming time," producers tell Refinery29 Australia.

This is the second series that Love Island Australia has been pre-recorded (rather than unfolding in real-time, like the UK version of the show). It has a lag of about six weeks before the show goes to air.

The Love Island producers were a bit tough to crack with this one. "That’s top secret," they told us. "We have some tricks up our sleeve to ensure that the finale is filmed and secrets don’t get out."

They all come from Australia and then spend a couple of days in local Mallorca hotels before making the trip to the villa.

Ex-contestant Jessie Wynter has previously revealed that producers send the islanders a list of items to pack before their TV adventure.

"They said to pack 10 bikinis and 10 going out outfits and then 10 day outfits," she told So Dramatic!.

"But I also had to send a heap of photos of what I was going to pack and then they told me what to bring and what not to bring."

The contestants are encouraged to clean up after themselves, but Channel 9 also has cleaners that go in at various times to keep the Love Island Australia villa tidy.

As with most reality shows like The Bachelor, Married At First Sight and Big Brother, contestants are provided with a living allowance so they can put their everyday life on hold and appear on the show.

Last year an alleged insider told So Dramatic! that Love Island Australia contestants receive a daily fee of $150 for expenses. They apparently also have the opportunity to make more money for any sponsored content created in the villa.

In 2022 year, a new rule was implemented that the contestants were only allowed one alcoholic beverage per day. Producers tell Refinery29 Australia that in 2023, this has increased to a strict two standard drinks per night.

"They [islanders] get one drink a day and that is so they make good decisions because we are not one of those ‘get them hammered’ type of shows," Love Island Australia's executive producer Alex Mavroidakis told Herald Sun last year.

"We want them to look amazing and we want them to make smart decisions, so you will never see a drunk person on Love Island."

No smoking is allowed in the Love Island Australia villa.

The waiting room is also 'The Hideaway', which we'll be seeing plenty of on the 2023 season of Love Island Australia. It’s a small room within the villa and islanders can only go into that room once they get instructions or a text. Often, the other islanders decide who goes into The Hideaway. The waiting room was only used once this year, when Nakia and Trent spent the night at the beginning of the series.

The Love Island producers told us there is no set number of bombshells that are cast — it all depends on the structure of the series and when they are needed to spice things up. All of the bombshells this year went in the villa, which according to Channel 9, generally is the case. But overall, there is no set number and it’s very fluid.

There are producers and production staff on site near the villa 24 hours a day, in order to monitor what's happening between the contestants and see what footage coming through will work for viewers.

Season 1 contestant Jessie Wynter previously told So Dramatic! that "there was always someone in there [in the villa] kind of supervising and looking after us" during filming.

"They would just hide around the corner. They had a headset — obviously, the other producers were communicating to them," she told the popular reality TV podcast.

When a Love Island contestant is eliminated from the show, they have a limited time to farewell their co-stars, before having a debrief with the show's executive producers and a psychologist. They'll then go to a local hotel to rest before it's time to officially go home.

The islanders get all their hair and makeup done for the first day they enter the villa. There are also some brands that supply outfits to the contestants during the day and at night when they're all glammed up. The brands that the islanders are wearing in 2023 include: Kulani Kinis, Shondel, Saski Collection, City Beach, Skwosh, Vacay, Ann Summers, Sleeping W. The Enemy.

"The superfans are exactly that — superfans on the show that we recruit every year," producers said. "They are very real and watch clips we supply them to make up their decision."

The producers and the crew watch the live stream every day while on-site, which we call Tech Base. "It’s a very popular live feed, like a 24-hour rotation real-life reality show," producers say.

"It’s important for producers, both in Mallorca and post-producers to watch to see what goes on as we follow the plotlines. Nothing is made up and what you see in the episode happens live while we are in Mallorca."

This year marks Season 5 of Love Island Australia, hosted by Sophie Monk in a beachside villa in Mallorca, Spain.