Love Island: A beginner's guide to Love Island, including rules and cash prize

Never watched an episode of Love Island before? Brush up before the summer of love starts next week.

The eighth season of Love Island kicks off next for the summer of 2022 and fans are undoubtedly excited. Even if you’ve never watched a previous season, it’s not too late to get involved with the dating show that sparked a flurry of reality dating shows since its conception.

The Love Island Villa in Mallorca plays host to a carousel of love-seeking Islanders, all searching for real connections – and the path to a cash prize. The Islanders stay in the Villa all summer long, without contact to the outside world – or until they get dumped from the Villa. Here’s what you need to know about Love Island and its rules.

Rules of Love Island

During the first episode, the first round of Islanders will enter the Villa, usually with an equal number of men and women. The women will then line up, and a man is introduced one by one. The women step forward for any man they find attractive.

The men then have the opportunity to pick any girl to couple up with, regardless of who steps forward. These couples will stay together until what’s known as the recoupling, when people are given the opportunity to stay with their original partner or pick someone new.

In the meantime, couples sleep in the same bed, get to know one another, and take part in challenges with one another. Of course, there’s nothing stopping them from chatting to other Islanders in the Villa.

Brush up on your Love Island knowledge ahead of the eighth season's kickoff next week. Photo: ITV / Love Island.

After a recoupling, people who are left without a couple are at risk of being dumped from the Villa. Sometimes, they will have the opportunity to stay and attempt to recouple; it varies between different recouplings.

There are also regular public votes on who should be dumped from the Villa or which couple deserves a treat, like a date outside of the Villa or a night in a private room.

To keep things lively, new people are continually introduced to the Villa, culminating in the dramatic moment when the men are secretly snuck out to Casa Amor, an entirely separate Villa. Both Villas then get a new influx of both men and women, meaning couples need to trust their absent partners to stay true to them – or find someone new. Anyone who’s not in a couple after Casa Amor is usually dumped from the Villa.

Despite these broad rules, the Love Island producers are known to introduce a few curve balls – and with an unequal number of men and women entering the Villa next week, we might be seeing one of them sooner rather than later.

The firepit is the heart of the Love Island Villa, the spot for recouplings and dramatic chats all-season long. Photo: ITV / Love Island.

How much can Love Island contestants win?

Not only are Islanders looking for love on Love Island, but there’s also a cash prize for the most popular couple at the end of the show, as voted by the public. The prize money is £50,000 in total but there’s yet another choice for the winners at the end.

One member of the pair will have to choose between two envelopes, one with £50,000 inside and one with nothing. Depending on what they get, one of them will then be able to choose whether to stay together and split the cash, or take all of the money for themselves.

Even for those who don’t take home the cash prize, life after Love Island is usually lucrative for popular Islanders, with brand deals and influencer lifestyles usually just around the corner.

Love Island’s eighth season will air at 9pm on ITV2 and ITV Hub on June 6th. Plus, stay up to the date on the latest news and memes in Edinburgh Evening News’ dedicated Facebook group.