1. The Love Island villa is located in the hills of Sant Llorenc des Cardassar in Mallorca, which is about an hour and 15 minutes from Palma airport.
2. The villa is privately owned by a German millionaire, who ITV rents it from for the duration of the show.
3. Bosses make many structural changes and completely revamp the villa to create the version of it we see on-screen.
4. However, they must return it to its original state before handing it back to the owners at the end of each series.
5. The pool is the only part of the garden that remains after the series is finished.
6. The pool is exactly the same length as the pool featured in the South Africa villa in January 2020 – producers even measured it to prove it.
7. Features including the decking, outdoor kitchen, pergola, sunbeds and the perimeter walls are all stripped out and are either kept in storage in between series or completely rebuilt.
8. Camera hides are also built into the false perimeter walls of the garden, allowing camera operators to stand filming some of the action without being clocked by the contestants.
9. They access the camera hides through a secret pathway, which we spotted through an open door in the garden.
10. It usually takes about eight weeks to transform the Spanish farmhouse into the Love Island villa we know and love, although we’re told it only takes around half that time to strip everything out again.
11. The Spanish villa is about half the size of the South African one that debuted during the first winter series in 2020.
12. The back wall of the bedroom is actually false, and behind it is the villa’s real kitchen, which viewers and the Islanders never see.
13. The show uses an outside kitchen to encourage the Islanders to spend more time outdoors.
14. The kitchen is constantly restocked with snacks and drinks, ensuring the contestants never go hungry or thirsty.
15. Producers send food into the villa through a two-way walk-in larder, which you can see below…
16. Series four contestant Laura Anderson also revealed the larder is where producers pull Islanders for secret chats. “If you see someone coming out of ‘the larder’, there’s probably drama ahead!” she told Closer magazine.
17. The Islanders don’t actually cook all that much, though. Lunch and dinner are provided for the Islanders by on-site caterers, who have a station outside the driveway into the villa.
18. Contestants are not actually filmed during meal times, but producers insist conversations are kept to a minimum so as not to miss any action.
19. The driveway is also home to the gallery, some production offices and a dressing room.
20. It is also from one of these portacabins that one of the on-duty producers sends the texts to the Islanders’ phones.
21. The Islanders’ phones only allow them to receive these messages, text one another and take pictures. They are connected via an Intranet system.
22. There’s also another production village about a 15-minute drive away where the rest of the show’s 200-strong crew usually work. However, for 2021, many production staff will remain in the UK due to the pandemic, including narrator Iain Stirling, who will record his voiceover from London for the first time.
23. The front of the villa is host to the smoking area (which is actually just a bucket of fag butts next to the front door), as Islanders are not allowed to smoke in the main garden. Instead they have to go out for a cigarette separately and one-by-one.
24. They are still filmed in case a vital piece of action happens, but they do not have any interaction with the other Islanders while there, and those wanting to smoke must queue on the stairs inside the villa and wait until the person before them has finished.
25. Bosses made this decision after 50 percent of the complaints about about the show in 2017 related to how much the contestants smoked.
26. The front of the villa features a huge pane of glass, running from floor to ceiling of the building, with bosses admitting it is one of the things that first attracted them to the property.
27. The show relocated to the current Spanish villa in 2017, as the pool at the previous one used in the first two series was too big to heat properly, meaning the contestants never used it.
28. In 2019, there were 71 cameras dotted around the villa and the garden that watch the contestants’ every move. And we mean every move.
29. However, they are not filmed in the toilets, with only a health and safety camera against the door to ensure there are no emergencies in there.
30. There are still microphones in both the shower and toilets, though, so that every conversation is picked up and the residents can’t have any totally-private moments.
31. The bathroom is fully stocked with a plethora of beauty products, shower gels and the like – some from the show’s own range, and others from commercial partners.
32. There are also bowls of Love Island-branded condoms dotted around, and producers told us they put 200 into the villa each series.
33. The dressing room is kitted out with hairdryers, straighteners and make-up stations for the contestants to primp and preen themselves before a hot date.
34. In 2019, the contestants began having access to clothing from I Saw It First as part of a product placement deal, which returns for the 2021 series. Islanders don’t have to wear anything from the range if they don’t want to, and will still be bringing their own clothes in.
35. There is an outdoor gym so the lads and lasses can keep in shape.
36. All of the grass in the garden is fake, as are the plants, presumably because the contestants would forget to water them.
37. The contestants are required to keep the villa tidy during their stay to ensure it looks nice on camera, but cleaners do go in once a week as well.
38. The living room features a new addition this year in the form of The Dog House (aka a bed for Islanders to sleep on if they are kicked out of the one they share in the bedroom), after it made its debut in the South Africa villa.
39. The Hideaway is tucked down the other end of the villa next to the living room.
40. In 2019, the hot tub was moved from the main garden into the Hideaway. Producers claimed the Islanders were not using it and hoped it would see more action on the revamped Hideaway terrace.
41. From the Hideaway terrace, there is also additional access to the Beach Hut, just in case a contestant needs to have a chat before or after those intimate moments.
42. The Islanders go through a secret door and climb up an external wooden staircase, not seen on-screen, and enter the Beach Hut through a door on the upstairs of the exterior.
43. This year, the Hideaway features a secret drawer where bosses can hide little treats for the couple who are in there.
44. The Beach Hut looks pretty much the same as it has since series one, giving viewers a sense of familiarity.
45. Here’s what the contestants see when they are sat in the chair:
46. There is also an unused bedroom and bathroom next to the Beach Hut which is used to store kit.
47. There is a medic on call on site all the times in case of emergencies.
48. Contrary to reports, there’s actually no set limit on the amount of alcohol contestants are allowed to consume with producers judging it “on a case-by-case basis”. “We’re really careful they don’t have too much to drink. We’re responsible about it,” they said.
49. Dumpings and recoupling ceremonies can often be filmed at about 1am, as that is when the Islanders will be least expecting it.
50. The original Casa Amor is only a stone’s throw away from the main villa, although it is unknown if it will return for 2021, and if it does, if it will remain at the same property.
