Love Island’s stars who outshone castmates despite never winning the show

Winning isn’t always everything.

Sometimes the taking part can lead to a ton of success all on its own, as demonstrated by a number of former Love Island contestants.

Despite each series crowning a winning couple, some of the biggest stars to come out of the hit ITV2 reality TV series never took home the title.

That is not to say we did not have some very deserving winners who were also big personalities and have found success after the show – but it is not the be-all and end-all to guarantee future stardom.

So, we have compiled some of Love Island’s big winners who never actually won the show.

Dr Alex George (2018)

The good doctor was not the luckiest in love on the show back in 2018 despite his respected profession.

Dr Alex spent much of the time paired with friend Samira Mighty before eventually ending up coupled up with Alexandra Cane until the pairing soured ahead of the final and the couple were dumped from the island.

As with many Love Island stars, Alex’s social media following grew after leaving the show but he also began to make regular media appearances alongside his work as an A&E doctor and later as a GP.

As a guest on shows such as Good Morning Britain, Lorraine and Loose Women, Alex has discussed medical issues – including his work on the front line during the Covid-19 pandemic – but especially has spoken about mental health.

Following the tragic death of his brother Llŷr last year, Alex launched a campaign in January to get the Government to provide further aid to young people suffering from mental health issues, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

After meeting with PM Boris Johnson in February about mental health issues, Alex was given the newly created government position of Youth Mental Health Ambassador. He now spends much of his time educating young people about mental health issues and services and tools available to help them.

Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury (2019)

Despite finishing in second place in the fifth series, Molly-Mae and Tommy have turned out to be one of Love Island’s biggest success stories.

Very few couples remained together long-term following the end of the show but social media star Molly-Mae and professional boxer Tommy have continued to find success.

Molly-Mae now boasts a whopping 5.5million followers on her Instagram account and an impressive 1.52million subscribers to her YouTube account which she posts on and updates her fans regularly on the latest events in her life and offers lifestyle, beauty and fashion tips.

Meanwhile, Tommy boasts 3.4millon followers on his Instagram account and regularly appears in Molly-Mae’s content too.

He has also found success in his boxing career, having his sixth win in the ring earlier this month in a match against Jordan Grant.

Posting about it on Instagram, Tommy penned: “Good learning fight last night. Onto the next. 6-0”.

Wes Nelson (2018)

Despite spending much of his tenure in the villa with Laura Anderson, Wes sent shockwaves through the villa when he chose to move on to Megan Barton-Hanson.

Despite this controversial decision, the new couple made it to the final and finished in fourth place.

Following Love Island, Wes was signed up by ITV as a contestant for Dancing on Ice and found popularity and success on the ice. He made it to the final and finished as a runner-up alongside his partner Vanessa Bauer.

Wes later reunited with his former Love Island co-stars Zara McDermott, Samira Mighty, and Eyal Booker in 2019 to form the group No Love Lost in The X Factor : Celebrity and they finished in eighth place.

Last year he announced he had signed a solo record deal with EMI Records.

He penned on Instagram in August 2020: “I am the happiest man on the planet! I have just signed my first record deal with @universalmusicgroup@emirecords “.

Wes added: “Anyone who knows me knows this is my biggest dream and I’m so f***ng proud! I’d like to thank my managers @rzk_rnr and @so.empire + the Label for giving me the opportunity. I’ve got a great team around me, this is just the start!”

He released his first single “See Nobody” in September and it became a Top 10 hit in the UK charts, peaking at Number 3.

In April 2021, Wes released his second single “Nice to Meet Ya” which was a UK Top 40 hit at 33 in the charts, whilst also being a Top 10 hit in Germany.

Chris Hughes (2017)

One of the chief reasons for the popularity of Love Island’s third series was the close friendship between Chris Hughes and eventual winner Kem Cetinay.

Chris finished in third place with then-girlfriend Olivia Attwood, while Kem won with girlfriend Amber Davies.

However, Chris’ bromance with Kem was so popular that they went on to become a duo in further television shows and as a musical act.

Chris & Kem Straight Outta Love Island aired following the end of their Love Island stint, while they later got their own challenge series You vs. Chris & Kem which aired back in 2018.

The pair even released a single “Little Bit Leave It” after leaving Love Island.

Former couple Chris and Olivia also got their own reality TV series Chris and Olivia: Crackin’ On in 2018 before the pair went their separate ways.

He has also been involved in live horse racing coverage for The Cheltenham Festival and Royal Ascot on ITV.

In January 2019, Chris made headline news when he had a testicular exam live on This Morning in an effort to raise awareness for testicular cancer.

Chris himself had previously had a varicocele in his teens and had undergone surgeries as a result of this.

He tackled the issue again in his own BBC Three documentary film Me, My Brother, and Our Balls where he discussed testicular cancer with his brother Ben who had suffered from the condition.

In addition to this, he appeared in The Real Full Monty: On Ice where he stripped alongside other celebrities to raise awareness for checking your body for cancer.

From January 2019, Chris was also in a relationship with former Little Mix singer Jesy Nelson until they split in April last year.

Olivia Attwood (2017)

After finishing in third place with Chris Hughes in the third series of Love Island, Olivia went on to appear in a reality show with him, Chris and Olivia: Crackin’ On, in 2018.

After the pair split, Olivia went on to join the cast of hit structured reality series The Only Way Is Essex in 2019 and became known for being just as feisty and vocal as she was in the Love Island villa – getting into a number of verbal spars with fellow castmates.

Olivia departed TOWIE last year after getting her own ITVBe series named Olivia Meets Her Match.

The show follows Olivia’s career and personal life, including her relationship with fiance, English professional footballer Bradley Dack.

Zara McDermott (2018)

Despite not being the most dramatic of contestants on Love Island, Zara has gone on to have further television success since leaving the villa.

In addition to her role in The X Factor: Celebrity alongside fellow Love Island stars in 2019, Zara was also signed up to renowned modelling agency Storm Models last year.

From 2019, Zara became a cast member of E4 structured reality series Made in Chelsea after she began dating star Sam Thompson.

The pair have had their ups and downs after it emerged that Zara had cheated on Sam but they have now reconciled and remain as a couple.

Zara fronted a documentary for BBC Three entitled Zara McDermott: Revenge Porn earlier this year, which later became the most-requested factual programme on BBC Three so far in 2021.

The programme saw her tackle the issue of revenge porn, a subject that she herself has been personally affected by.

The model will front a new documentary for the channel about Sexism in Schools.

Speaking about the new documentary, Zara said: “After the success of my Revenge Porn documentary, I am both honoured and thrilled to be making my second documentary with BBC Three.

“I was, and still am, incredibly overwhelmed by the response so far and to be working on another powerful, emotive, educational and eye-opening film is going to be a fantastic next step.

“I hope that by speaking out and bringing awareness to such important yet often taboo topics, we can help people not just across the country, but the world too.”

Maura Higgins (2019)

As the fiery Irish brunette stepped into the villa for the fifth series of Love Island it became clear that Maura would be a scene-stealer and she more than delivered.

Despite splitting from former boyfriend Curtis Pritchard after finishing in fourth place with the professional dancer, Maura has been seen on further shows since her time in the villa ended.

Maura appeared in Dancing on Ice in 2020 with professional skating partner Alexander Demetriou and made it to the seventh week on the series despite being a novice.

She has also appeared on ITV shows such as This Morning.

Maura also had a romance with her friend and Love Island co-star Chris Taylor after leaving the villa but they recently split after deciding to be friends.

Love Island returns to ITV2 later this month.

Originally from https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/love-islands-real-winners-stars-24322272