“It’s easily accessible” — Love Island UK alum Diamanté says social media is redefining how fans engage with the show in 2025

Love Island is back for its 12th season in 2025, and while the TV audience is growing, the real boost is happening online. In a BBC Newsbeat exclusive published on July 13, 2025, former Love Island UK contestant Diamanté Laiv spoke about how viewers are engaging with the show differently this year.

"It's more popular online because everybody's online, it's easily accessible. Every 10 scrolls on TikTok is something Love Island-related, so you can't really avoid it," Diamanté said.

She further explained how social media platforms have become the primary way many people now follow the show.

According to ITV figures shared with the BBC, Love Island’s official accounts gained 1.8 million followers in 2025 alone — with one million of those coming from TikTok.

Meanwhile, while TV ratings are improving compared to the previous year, they remain far from the show’s 2019 peak.

The trend shows that short clips, memes, and recaps are replacing full-episode viewing for many.

Content creators, fans, and ex-contestants are playing a large role in how the public engages with the show, driving the shift in viewing habits and reshaping what it means to follow Love Island.

Social media updates are driving interest more than full episodes of Love Island UK

Viewership for Love Island is slowly climbing again, with 2.6 million people watching the season 12 premiere — nearly double 2023’s first episode.

However, these numbers are still well below the show's 2019 high, where over 6 million viewers tuned in. In contrast, the show’s online growth is outpacing its television success.

With over 87,000 TikTok uploads using Love Island hashtags in 2025 alone, short-form content is drawing in a larger, more consistent audience.

Ex-islander Diamanté Laiv mentioned that many viewers don’t commit to watching full episodes.

“I’m a very busy person, so I don’t really have the time to sit down every day for an hour and just watch people kiss,” she told BBC Newsbeat.

For her and many others, social media is a quicker and more convenient way to stay updated.

This has created space for content creators like Anthony, known online as "giletslays," who makes recaps and commentary videos for his 170,000 followers.

Some of his clips have reached millions of views, further showing how fans are connecting through commentary rather than direct viewership.

As Anthony explained, missing just a few episodes can make catching up feel like too much work — but a 60-second recap solves that.

Short clips shape contestant perception and virality

With more viewers relying on social media updates, the way contestants are perceived is changing. Rather than developing a connection over a full season, viral moments often define how an islander is remembered.

One example is Yasmin Pettet, nicknamed "YasGPT" online, whose posture advice went viral and received over a million views.

Cosmopolitan’s Grace Henry noted that while these clips help contestants gain attention, they don’t always offer full context.

“We have to be mindful that these are short clips and clips can be taken out of context,” she said.

Diamanté also expressed concern about this shift:

“Conversations are being pulled and tweaked so I feel like it makes it even more orchestrated. It kind of takes the reality out of the reality TV.”

Even so, contestants and content creators are leaning into this change. Going viral on social platforms often brings more visibility than being well-liked on the show itself.

Diamanté believes that brands are also paying closer attention to online presence. "More brands are seeing it and that's the aim of the game,” she added.

For many, these platforms aren’t just an update hub — they’re the new main stage.

Stay tuned for more updates.