Love Lives - #42 Love Island's Montana Brown reveals what really happens in the villa, from periods to alcohol

Episode Date: July 13, 2018

Love Island has become a national talking point, but the hit reality series remains shrouded in mystery, leaving eager viewers wondering what really goes on behind the scenes in the Mallorcan villa. Do the women get bikini waxes? What's the audition process like? How much are contestants allowed to drink?This week, we're joined by former contestant Montana Brown, who speaks candidly about her time in the villa, explaining everything from how many clothes the women pack to how they cope when they're on their periods.Montana also addresses criticisms that some of the action is staged, revealing how involved the producers actually are with the goings on in the villa.Follow us on Instagram to stay up-to-date! https://www.instagram.com/millennial_love/Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/millenniallove. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Acast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. will not die hosting the Hills after show. I get thirsty for the hot wiggle. I didn't even know a thirsty man until there was all these headlines. And I get schooled by a tween. Facebook is like, and now that's what my grandma's on. Thank God phone a friend with Jesse Crookshank is not available on Facebook. It's out now wherever you get your podcasts. Acast helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com Hello and welcome to Millennial Love, the Independent Lifestyle Desk's weekly podcast on love, dating and relationships.

Hosted by me, Rachel Hosey, Assistant Lifestyle Editor. And me, Olivia Petter, Lifestyle Writer. Dating today is a world away from what it was even just ten years ago. With dating apps, millennials are finding it harder to meet people than ever before. And even when we do, who's to say we won't be ghosted? So that's why we decided to launch Millennial Love as two long-time singletons in their 20s, talking candidly about all of the things everyone is doing, but not always willing to admit. Today we are delighted to welcome fashion influencer and former Love Islander, Montana Brown.

Hello everyone! I'm so excited to be here. That was one of the best hellos I've ever heard. Good. I like to make it a bit jazzy, you know, pop in there, because everyone's like, hi. You're so right! You're so right. That. Good. I like to make it a bit jazzy, you know, pop in there because everyone's like, hi. You're so right. You're so right. That was fantastic. I loved that.

I even did jazz hands like people could actually see me but they can't. I enjoyed it. Is that how you entered the villa with that confidence though? I can't remember the start of last year's season.

I just with a big old fat smile on my face but people were always like, why did she smile so much? And I'm like, okay, didn't realize that was a crime. I feel like there are worse things

to be criticized for. Yeah, I know. I feel like that's quite an attractive quality as well um but we are so excited to have Montana here and we know the listeners are as well because obviously everyone is obsessed with Love Island we're obsessed you're obsessed my grandma's obsessed really yeah she is she's very obsessed it's a bit weird she's like did you see what happened last night I'm like I haven't caught up. Don't tell me. It is a commitment, isn't it? It's taken over my life. I like, I don't gym much anymore because I'm like, can you watch Love Island?

My social life's taken a hit. I need to be back by nine. Thank you. No, exactly. I'm like, I will maybe do some social plans, but only if they end at 8.15. Yeah. So I have enough time to get home. Fantastic. What we're going to start with today is, if you listened to last week's episode, you may recall that Olivia and I decided we would write bios for each other's dating app profiles

and then see how we got on with our swipes and our chats for the week ahead. Well, it's the week just gone. So, Olivia, would you like to commence and yeah I'm not sure I didn't do the greatest work on this to be honest but um why don't you start by saying what your bio was before and then say what I created for you okay so before I've gone through a few different you know personality reinventions on my bio uh the most recent one when Rachel decided to change

it was no wait what did you have first though oh first yeah what was your existing bio no that's what i'm saying the existing bio before you decided to change it was getting shaky after school since 1994 i think oh yeah and and rachel didn't get that because she didn't know the song i know the song i don't know the song what's the song getting shaky with her getting shaky after school you do know the song oh just sing it again go on baby get shaky after school oh yes i do know but then i don't think that's that's almost like i wouldn't be i wouldn't actually be able to quote that song exactly yeah that was my thought i thought it was less niche anyway so i got rid of that and rachel kindly decided to change it too um let's see may very well arrive on a date in flares a fluffy jacket and pink platforms it's called fashion brenda look it up which i think she thinks fashion brenda

that's a quote it's a meme it's called fashion brand i know that that's a meme but oh my goodness both of yours are actually awful like if i was if i was on tinder if i was on a dating thing and i i'd be like goodbye goodbye it's awful it makes me sound really arrogant it makes me sound like i'm so stylish and so quirky and so kooky you are arrogant stylish and quirky i mean okay a lot to digest there i feel like you need to go simple like to the point something that like you're actually interested in like for example mine when i was on dating apps i was like if you're a smoker don't swipe for me it was basically all the things that if you're a smoker, don't swipe for me. It was basically all the things that if you do, like if you roll up those cigarettes and put your own tobacco in it, don't hit me up.

Those kind of things. Just like a list of things that like, if you do these following things, do not bother talking to me. See, I kind of respect that, but I know that when I see things like that on guys' bios, I hate it. Really?

I'm like, why are you being so like, what's the word? Prescriptive. Yeah, but I wouldn't go out with a smoker, for example. No, fair play, to be honest with you. I agree. I think that's good. If you have an absolute rule on something, it's quite good to state it.

Yeah. Anyway, basically, I was trying to not make this bio sound like me. So I had to fight all my urges because it was meant to be for you. But then, granted, I didn't spend too long thinking about this but the question is have you got on and have you had any matches i have yeah but no more or less than i had before like the more time i spend on it the more matches i would typically get to be honest i don't think the boys i match with even read the bio because none of them mention it oh have they did they not mention it no although actually one person referenced it um did they get it they said something about Brenda

look it up see there you go they got it yeah they got it great and then and then they were asking about my pink platforms because to be fair in one of my pictures I am dressed up like a bunny rabbit wearing pink platforms that makes it sound like Bridget jones it's not like that i mean i went to a alice in wonderland theme birthday party and i'm wearing a tutu okay and some like pink platform shoes well see i didn't even know that when i wrote the bio but clearly it was fantastic but this is the thing like you kind of want your bio to be a talking point or to be some something that you can then chat about or not to be like hey how are you how's your weekend i do think this one makes me sound like an arrogant sass pot though so i might change it well fine because even if you think that that's

the way i am i don't want boys to think that that's the way i am fine anyway so my bio formerly read which is hilarious might i add i think i put a lot more thought into yours than you did into mine all right thank you for that let's not turn this into a fight. Sorry. I'm not going to put you down. So before Livvy got her hands on my bio, mine said, peanut butter aficionado, optimist, grammar nerd,

coriander averse, food and fitness fan, five foot nine, trilingual and ready to mingle, three emojis, champagne flute, avocado, weightlifting woman.

Okay. I know. I know. But we're not critiquing this bio. That's not what we're doing. I actually think that's all right. Oh, I know. I know, but we're not critiquing this bio. That's not what we're doing. I actually think that's alright.

Thank you, Montana. Did Roman do that? No, well, he criticised it when we did it a few weeks ago. He said, I used too long words. No, I think it's hilarious.

I think trilingual, that's good. People are like, oh, she speaks three languages. What languages do you speak? Exactly. Anyway, Livvy changed it too.

I like brunch, avocados, prosecco, weightlifting and emojis. I know what you're thinking, but I'm not basic, I promise. I just really like avocados. Okay, that's actually quite good. Thank you, Montana. Thank you very much. No emojis though. No, because I just thought, you know what?

You go overkill on the emojis. But to say... Let your words be the emojis. You like emojis and not use emojis it's like do you really like them it's a bit like

contradictory I do get that but I do quite like it you're kind of just using the words but then I liked your one before as well

I thought that was quite funny and it's a bit like informative do you know what I mean it's a bit about you like most people are not trilingual

you are trilingual aren't you you're not just faking it true story I was going to say because I've actually done that

I saw my LinkedIn profile I speak Spanishanish and french and i definitely don't i think that's you know that's i think we all do that if you did it for gcse whack it on the cv totally counts did anyone mention your new sparkling spanking new bio well this is the thing i had the same experience in that i don't think it really made much difference i still got some matches i've still been chatting to a few guys. I haven't really noticed my match rate go up or go down, which confirms what we feared in that boys don't read bios.

They only care about what you look like. But they're obviously just going to look at your pictures. They're not going to swipe based on a bio. I reckon they look at the bio at some point. Maybe after you match. Yeah. Yeah, then they'll maybe look at it. I think I used to look at

the bios but that's because like i'm a bit a bit of a bitch like i just like to nitpick everything i always look at the bio i'm picky i like and as soon as we match i'm gonna be looking at your linkedin to be honest yeah i mean i do your prospects yeah i might not look at the bio initially before swiping but then after i've swiped if it's a match i'll always look at the bio and then decide if i want to actually speak to them based on that interesting well speaking of bios this week for bio of the week um we're actually going to do a bio that we dislike as opposed to when we do like um and i think you'll see why as soon as i read it this is from zacharias 37 yes quite old he goes

sorry wait what's your maximum age limit on 37 okay I recently realised older men can be fit too oh my gosh

it's not how old are you 25 no that's too old I was gonna say that's way too old it is quite old yes they're nearly 40

like their sperm's probably not gonna work they've probably got you know I'm not desperate for kids anytime soon in the future you're gonna have to get them to freeze their sperm i don't think that's an issue no i don't think that's a thing okay hairlines and i mean i'm partial to an eye crinkle oh really oh no i just couldn't everything goes south i'm not going to say anything else but yeah thanks girls back to Zacharias' bio

he said I have a wicked sense of humour and I'm not afraid to use it I'm going to say that again I have a wicked sense of humour and I'm not afraid to use it please don't be fat in real life yes I'm fully aware my cat is prettier than you'll ever be get over it

this is why you don't go for 37-year-olds. They just have no sense of like, they're just ridiculous. I feel like this guy cannot be a representation of all 37-year-olds. This guy just can't be a real human being. Please don't be fat in real life. Are you having a laugh? It just sounds like an awful, awful human. Get over it.

Yeah. This is why he's single and this is why he's 37 and single. And he wonders why yeah exactly 37 and single and clearly got his age range down to 25 if not lower yeah so it's also like come on like take some notes like have a realization have an epiphany that you're 37 and single let's go through why that is oh god if you come across zacharias on your dating apps do not swipe right ladies to be fair yeah maybe i maybe this is this is a sign I should go back to maybe like 30 tops. Yeah, 30 tops.

Yeah, I think mine is. I think mine's 33. Mine would be like 28. Really? Yes. How old are you? 22. Are you really?

Gosh. Yeah, so that's six. Do you know what? I just think I've had a brief thing recently where I met someone older who was fit and then I decided maybe. How old? 40 something.

No, no, no. It doesn't go up that high. No, that's not okay. No. Do not do that. Because imagine like if you're ready for kids in like four or five years, I'll be like 50. Yeah. No, you're right.

You're right. Don't waste your time. No. Okay. I know. Find know find some age find a spring chicken oh yes but also not a child because that's not okay no okie dokie i'm glad we've cleared this up guys let's talk about love island our favorite topic of discussion for basically the whole summer montana i think we should start by asking you your thoughts on the current series. Who do you like and who do you not like? I think at the beginning, my thoughts were it's a bit dry.

A lot of people have said this. It was very hard to get into. I found it really hard to get into just because I didn't actually really laugh that hard when I was watching it. And then as it got to kind of week two, week three, that's when I really started to like Laura. I really love Danny, kind of from Day Dot actually.

Love Jack. Original Jack. Original Jack. All of the newbies, I'm not a fan. Like they're all just really like wet lettuce, not really my flavor. Very average looking joes. I agree.

They are brown bread, margarita pizza, weak orange juice. Yeah. That is their vibe. Wow. That was scathing. Yeah. Sometimes a margarita's delicious. I agree.

Danny and Jack are the best. Yeah, they are. No, so too, actually. And you know how often you have to vote for the couple you like most? And I was always voting for Danny and Jack. And then when it said vote for the individual islanders you like best, and I realized individually, they're still myaves yeah um it's interesting about this I feel like um do we just not warm to the newer people so much because we didn't know them as well I don't

think so because for example like Chris was new in your year yeah that's true in my year um so Jamie came in right Jamie came in at the end so I don't think it's a case of that I almost think even like some of the girls they're just not personable and they're not relatable like Megan not gonna lie not a fan Ellie not a fan um who else Georgia oh I like her I do now I think I've she was one of my favorites from the beginning, I think. And then I do get it. Like, she can be a bit annoying sometimes with the whole loyal comments. Yeah, the loyal thing is like a bad, like, no, I'm loyal. It's a jingle that needs to die.

We get it. We get it. I'm trying to think who else I don't like because there's definitely someone. I really didn't like Adam. Like, I just found him so cringy. Oh, no. He made me feel a bit sick. And it's all like, come on, guys.

Like, you've got a pair of eyes. Like, why are you going for the same type of guys i can see why they do them he's good looking but he's the exact guy that i would avoid i'd rather go out with someone who's really really ugly then looks like that and is that awful same fair play anyway we've got basically so so many questions that we want to ask you because i am just, I feel like Love Island is quite shrouded in mystery in many ways. Yeah. And there's a lot of secrets around it and we want to, we want to know the details. Okay.

Hit me. Hit me with. So, one of my first questions is, do they get clothes delivered into the villa or do you have to arrive with like eight weeks worth of clothes? You have to arrive with eight weeks worth of clothes. Really? But the only thing that is good is that when people leave you're like oh my god i'm so sad to see you go but can i have that dress you just try and like steal people's stuff when they leave you're like oh you're not gonna need that give that to me because i feel like you don't even see that many sort of repeated outfits does everyone come with like 20 bikinis yeah everyone

comes with 20 bikinis i'd say 20 20 to 30 dresses and then obviously like you're exchanging dresses with people everyone wears each other's stuff interesting i know okay next question i read somewhere that everyone in the villa gets like one day off per week where there's no cameras and they're allowed into town true or no that is absolutely not true i wish that was true but it's not because basically all of the locals because it's filmed in mallorca all of the locals they cottoned on that the show's on so even when we're that like even when we went out i think we went out once when the the boys went out for a boys day and the girls went out for a girls and it was it was televised and people were just like hounding us down the streets and stuff so yeah it's more ag than it's worth i think for the producers but that is absolutely not true so you literally just stayed

in the villa yeah unless we're going on a date which they would hire out kind of like a whole cafe or like a whole like somewhere and can i ask what's the deal with alcohol? You only get, most of the time it's one beverage a night. Really? And they're strict about that? Yeah, they're really strict about that. At a push it's two. Seriously? Yeah.

And is that just because they don't want everyone getting pissed? I just think ITV is like a very family orientated show. They don't want people getting pissed. They're very aware that they've got quite a young audience, which is why they've kind of clamped down on the whole smoking as well from last year so i just think it's it's not really there what they want to portray would everyone just then like save a one drink and try and make it last hours yeah and like i remember when i was on it i never wanted to drink the alcohol because i'm not a massive drinker so people used to actually fight over who could have who could have mine yeah but what about when you know sometimes when it's like one the new

person comes in and they get to take out like three girls or boys on a date and these these suitors come to them one by one when they're like in a field or something and it seemed it looks like every day every time a new person comes a new bottle of well the girls have a fresh drink every single time they go on the date but the boy obviously has three drinks that's kind of an exception if you're on a date or something oh gosh you probably get hammered if you're not if you do you end up getting drunk off of nothing but why is that i don't know i think it's just because maybe it's the heat dehydration the juice fever yeah it's it's a really weird kind of situation i don't think most people understand that it is actually quite tough like people just think oh

they're on holiday like they're having such a fantastic time um but imagine like not speaking to your friends and family for a month yeah no i think it must be really tough and you have no access to the outside world at all so like for example the people in the villa right now have no idea that england is playing in the semi-final no they have no idea that's nuts exactly like it's very surreal did you did you go a bit like mental with not getting out that's why i find it so hilarious whenever they get a text being like oh you're going to do this and everyone goes mental and everyone's like calm down love but yeah you don't kind of have your friends like say if for example you have an argument with your boyfriend and you haven't got your friend to be like look leave him to just rest for like a couple

of hours think about it sleep on it then talk to him tomorrow then you're like okay cool you don't have anyone to do that so you're like oh no you start popping off at people about nothing and you kind of i think you over dramatize things not because you want to but more because everything's a lot more intense so you just your mood just kind of swings a lot more than it normally would so when you were in there were you thinking the whole time about like how i'm coming across on camera and you just live in your life i was actually farting all the time and no i'm so glad it wasn't actually televised that often like a lot of other people got caught farting but i was farting all the time and like i was just really chuffed that that wasn't because i completely you forget

like you're not aware that the cameras are there because they're all hidden really yeah even though it looks like they're like zooming in quite closely at some point but they're all fixed or like they're hidden by a tree or like they're in a bush or they're all very very camouflaged so clever that's really clever though because i guess it makes you behave more like yourself exactly but when people are oh they've got a game plan it's so tough to have a game plan like honestly i i genuinely don't think that people go in there being like oh i'm gonna have a game plan or if they do once they get there kind of goes out the window because that is your support network whilst you're in there and like

you need it otherwise you'd probably go insane so interesting back to the booze thing though yeah like how much choice do you get in what you drink is it nice stuff do they just give you like really you can choose you can choose between red wine white wine beer prosecco i think that's it. But who is actually there to stop you having more than one? So there's a larder. Okay. Okay. Have you seen it? It's like next to the toaster.

People coming in and out of the larder. So that's where the water filters are. But so in the larder, there's another door that goes out the back that they lock. Okay. So that's how they deliver food. Oh my God. So our side of the door will be locked. You can hear them in there putting stuff in there.

They'll lock their door and then unlock our door. Got it. And so they only put a certain amount of booze in every evening. Yeah. So like, for example, they'll put a wine bottle in there and it will say if only two people have wine, it will be half a wine bottle.

And that's two portions. So you have to put your order in advance or something? Yeah. At dinner time. Oh my God. Okay. And now let's talk about food so how does that work do you because you know sometimes obviously we see like oh this is a challenge where the boys have to cook for the girls or something or or sometimes it's things like that or last year was it jamie who made the avocado happy birthday toast yeah or like sometimes you've seen the guys making breakfast the girls as

well and what how does the food thing work so breakfast time um we cook breakfast so they just put everything in the fridge the bacon eggs avocados toast they provide all of that but you have to cook your own breakfast lunch and dinner is completely catered for so you have like salads a choice of meats pudding just all brought in yeah so it's again like with the larder so they'll lock our side of the door, put all of the food in, and then, yeah. And when you're eating together, because those scenes aren't ever really filmed, are they,

when you're all having the catered meals? Yeah, but that's because every single time we eat, so especially if it's only for dinner, that's when the producers come and change your mics, or the sound people come in and change your mics, the batteries for your microphones. So interesting. Okay, I have a producer question for you. I the sound people come in and change your mics. The batteries for your microphones. So interesting. Okay, I have a producer question for you.

I'm not done with food. Sorry, Rachel. Okay, go on. Is it actually nice food? Really nice food. And are you allowed to request certain things? Or is it just like you get what you're given? It's just like you get what you're given.

But like you obviously, before you go on, you give like things that you like, things that you don't like. I was allergic to nuts. So like no nuts were allowed on the premises, which was quite good. But yeah, it was really, really yummy food. Really nice food.

And do people actually eat a lot? Because I read a thing with, I can't remember, it was someone from last year who wasn't in it very long, basically gave an interview to, I can't remember who it was, saying the guys don't eat all day so that they can A, look look ripped and be like get buzzed

off one drink in the evening true or no false literally so false like everyone's starving everyone wants that food it was so yum and also it just kind of no one's thinking about starving themselves like i think as an outsider i can see now that people are like oh they're obviously doing that because they're on camera and they're thinking about what they're looking like. No one's thinking about what they're looking like. Hence, you see people without makeup on by the third day because no one cares.

I was running around with pseudocrime on my face before bedtime. No one cares. Do you get bored? Yeah, they have to tell you to get out of bed because you never know what the time is. That's so weird. Oh my God, no. What about on the phones? No, they're all different times And because you never know what the time is. That's so weird. Oh my God, no. What about on the phones?

No, they're all different times. So you never know what time it is. Oh my God, that's crazy. Yeah. So like they'll wake you up just by putting the lights on. Or it'll be like a voiceover. Just be like, Islanders, time to get up. I feel like it's like being in the Hunger Games.

Yeah. That's so mad. You're like, no, surely not. And is it true that you're not allowed to bring books or anything? No. Wow. So you literally just sit there bring books or anything? No. Wow. So you literally just sit there talking about each other's relationships all day. Yeah.

I remember me and Camilla once, we were talking about which hymns we liked at school. We were singing loads of hymns. And someone came in and was like, yeah, that's not interesting. Okay, wait. Can I ask my producer question now? Right. How involved are the producers with the day-to-day running of the villa? So like, for example, the hymn thing,

how often do they come and interrupt conversations or try and provoke conversations or certain interactions? So people kind of think that everything's really staged and like it's not staged in the sense that they might be like, oh, Camilla, pull Montana aside and just talk to her, like see how she's feeling about Alex. Or, you know, they might say something something like that or if a challenge has just happened they'll say oh montana go up to the beach hut and talk about the challenge and what you thought and

blah blah yeah um like they'll say stuff like that or there's there's a couple of occasions where especially if like the it's getting to kind of afternoon and the sun's in a weird place if you're having a conversation where it's really really dark they'll be like look we can't really see you very well over there and the conversation is really good can you just quickly start that conversation over there like but in the sun sure but they never really like manipulate no they're not going to tell they never ever tell you what to say and i think sometimes people kind of get this impression that oh like they might be really nasty but it's obviously just how they've been edited it's like they can't edit you to like what you say they can't either you've you've got to say it's got to come out of your mouth and they're only just airing what

you've said so that's good yeah it's interesting i think it's actually much more authentic than people think because you look at i try to be i presume it was all authentic i wasn't thinking it was like made in chelsea or something no i guess the reason why i think it is because i'm watching this show called unreal at the moment which is about i think i've spoken about it on the podcast before which is written by an ex-producer of a show called The Bachelor in the US which is sort of like that more extreme version of Love Island where it's like one male suitor fight to the death yeah 20 female contestants fighting for him and he proposes to the winner at the end and the way that the contestants are manipulated in this fictional show called Unreal is just absurd.

And so it's just made me really sceptical. I think that a lot of shows probably are really scripted. And I can see why a lot of people might think that because it is just so entertaining. But when you put so many different people from so many different backgrounds and everyone's got different points of view and values, there's going to be so many arguments.

And that is genuinely just how it is. Can you imagine being stuck with someone that you just don't like yeah for like a month like arguments are bound to happen like i thought i was going insane at some points just because when you don't get along with someone you don't want to spend 24 hours a day with them or even see them and you just have to put up with it and it's just the most weird situation when normally in any other situation you can just leave you can get out you can go to the gym you take five but you can't it must be so awkward when it's with the guys that i don't know you have an argument with someone that you're seeing and then you can't avoid them they're just there i just think it's it's a really weird kind of and this is going back to the point where you said um kind of arguments and is it all real?

It's also, for example, say if you're dating someone, you've been on a Tinder date like three or four times. You kind of like the guy, which is kind of like we're just using it in kind of normal terms. And then instead of going home, you're seeing every single thing that they're doing. So if they went on another Tinder date or they go on a date with someone else or they see their ex-girlfriend those are the kind of things that you don't see behind the scenes of a tinder date when you're dating someone normally but on love island you see everything so for example say you've been dating this guy from tinder you really like them and then in a challenge the next day someone else goes and kisses them but

it's supposed to be your friend and you're like excuse me i was just on a tinder date with him but obviously that you don't see that and um i think people forget that that kind of element supposed to be your friend and you're like excuse me i was just on a tinder date with him but obviously that you don't see that and um i think people forget that that kind of element of things is really tough because you don't want to see someone kiss someone that you've been dating yeah that's gonna mess with anyone's head yeah like that's not a nice thing and you've almost got to pretend that like you're fine with it because that's the nature of the game and everyone's kissing everyone but still like it's not nice you're human with feelings yeah it must be emotions must be so heightened in that kind of setting i guess i i reckon people cry much more easily than they would in real life

oh my god i think i cried twice and i never cry like i'm like made of steel so it was really hard and like even with um there was a challenge last year about it was called license to swell and it was basically when quotes, someone would hold up a quote and you had to guess who said it about who. Oh my God, everyone was just like, surely not. I remember that. Everyone was like, surely not.

Because emotions were running high. You don't like everyone all hours of the day. It was just brutal. Breaking news happens anywhere, anytime. Police have warned the protesters repeatedly, get back. CBC News brings the story to you as it happens. Hundreds of wildfires are burning. Be the first to know what's going on

and what that means for you and for Canadians. This situation has changed very quickly. Helping make sense of the world when it matters most. Stay in the know. CBC News. Twas the season of chaos and all through the house, not one person was stressing. Holla differently this year with DoorDash.

Don't want to holla do the most? Holla don't. More festive, less frantic. Imagine if that happened in real life. Imagine if you got a list of all the awful things that people have said. And it makes you paranoid. Yeah, it makes you paranoid. Because you're like, oh my god, when did she say that? What was that about? Bloody blah. And you're like, hmm.

It's like peak stirring the pot. So obviously you have to be quite a strong character to go into that villa. say that what was that about bloody blah and you're like it's like peak stirring the pot so obviously you have to be quite a strong character to go into that villa i think you've almost just got to be quite thick skinned purely because you've got to take everything with a pinch of salt we all say kind of shitty things about our friends in the spur of the moment if you've had an argument it's just a case of just being like you know what they said that in the heat of the moment that's fine what's the audition process like so your first interview is a group interview and then you're uh looking down a camera they're asking you questions tell us a bit about yourself tell

us what your name where you're from what your hobbies are how your friends would describe you in three words oh my god so you're straight down the camera and i was like oh my god i can't do this this is so awkward. So that's the first interview. And then the second third are kind of similar, like down the camera stuff. And then you, at the end, you meet kind of the three top producers. Wow, super interesting. On another note that's very different, it's what I've been dying to ask is,

is there someone coming into the villa giving the girls bikini waxes or something because they're wearing very skimpy swimwear and there is no no hairs or anything i think most people end up shaving but like i'm a waxer like i've just always been exactly but by like the second week third week i was like i'm getting some hairs so we asked in the beach out we need some wax strips like we're on national television like i can't have my pubic hair sprouting out of my pants um so they brought in these wax strips and I don't know if you saw but we were waxing each other I was waxing Amber's nun she was waxing mine and it was the worst wax I've ever experienced in my entire life like we all had like bruising like you know if you don't pull the skin we were all had bruised we were like guys yeah we can't use these wax strips like we're gonna have to get so like get someone in but we ended up all just shaving i know it was really shit i in fact i'm

pretty sure i ended up just like not caring yeah by the end i was like i'm not shaving anymore alex sorry hun like you're gonna have to deal with that when you're on your period because a like you know you're sharing a bed it's white sheets you know most people when they're on their periods would not put a bikini on and like because everyone gets the bloat i know you know most people were on the pill and i think i went on the pill for that reason so that i could go back to back and not have a period for two months yeah Right, carried on through. That makes sense. Yeah, because it would be horrendous. I thought it was quite interesting in this year we saw,

was it Josh or someone like shaving his chest? And like, quite funny that they, I thought it was good that they showed that actually because it kind of just creates the idea that all these men are just hairless and like they're not. Yeah, they're not. You know what else I wonder actually?

You always see, because there's a gym, isn't there, in the villa? Yeah. So you always see the men working out on screen. You never see the women. You do. You do see them. Not as often.

I've seen Laura doing squats and jumps and burpees. I think you see the men more than you see the women. Probably because the men do it more. Do they? Yeah, probably. All the girls are like, yeah, we'll be there in five minutes. And then we're on the bedside. Yeah, we're not going.

Yeah, maybe tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow we'll come. Bye. Bye. Toodaloo bye i just couldn't be asked honestly it was so hot oh yeah the heat the heat i was just like i don't want to put a pair of sticky leggings on in this heat and do a workout that's the last thing i really fancy doing but people don't seem to swim very much or they just not show it because it's boring watching someone swimming i think before you go on love island people have got their hair extensions in people have got their nanokeratin people have got their whatevers you know their tapes like they're not going to just jump in the pool like willy nilly i certainly wasn't i don't think i got in the pool once but

that's because i can't swim um so yeah okay and so is there much involvement from, I don't know, producers or someone in sort of looking after the mental well-being or psychological aspect and checking people are OK when they get upset and stuff? So before you go on the programme, you have several meetings with the psych. So they're kind of your point of call if you ever need a meeting with them. Then that's who you go to like the the psychologist so she's always on call once you're there she asks you kind of questions beforehand before you even go on it just to check that you're kind of that kind of a person that can handle the pressure can handle kind of the media attention when you come out that kind of thing um and then yeah you can call them whenever when you're there if you're like oh i want to i want to see the psychologist then they would absolutely cater yeah, you can call them whenever, when you're there. If you're like, oh, I want to see the psychologist,

then they would absolutely cater for that. You can see them whenever you like. They give you a lot of support, emotional support in that sense. I think the only thing is, is that after the show, that's where I think something's lacking. Were you just sort of left to your own devices?

I mean, they say like, yeah, you can call the psychologist as as and when like you please or the press team to talk about media training anything like that but you're not going to call some random stranger kind of three weeks four weeks after the show's finished or even like months after surely it's more of a case of them being proactive and seeking you out because this is one of my major questions that i wanted to ask you because obviously i think this was particularly prominent with your season because yes love island was a popular show but you know two years ago but i think it really kicked off last year yeah massively yeah so and you would have obviously been in the villa having no idea exactly so going into it you probably didn't

realize how much this was going to change your life i would imagine honestly i remember saying because you you appoint people to look after your social media and i remember saying to the girls like oh i'd be happy with like maybe like 20 000 followers or something i'd be happy with that i'd like that's fine just like do it like a half half-assed job i don't really care and then when you come out oh my gosh so we we went to magaluf airport to fly home i genuinely got picked up by a bunch of magaluf hooligans like really yeah like picked up over the head like way, whey, it's my dad from Love Island.

And I was like, oh my gosh, I was like, this is so weird. It just blows my mind because obviously you're secluded from the outside world in that villa

for however long. Meanwhile, the public are developing an opinion about you, criticizing you. Dissecting your opinion. Dissecting every part. Like,

you know, we've seen Megan, pictures of her have been sold before she had plastic surgery. So that's circulating. And obviously you have no idea this is all going on so you come out and the difference just must be astonishing like is it quite is it quite overwhelming oh it's really overwhelming and like it's to be fair I found it really amusing coming out just watching all these memes like Montana looks like she's from Monsters Inc like a character from Monsters Inc I was like thanks um or like when I was dancing and like basically I was wearing this dress and I wasn't

wearing a bra so I didn't want to hunch over and then my tits to come out so I was dancing like with a really straight back people like oh I didn't realize Montana wore a back brace so I was like oh but I found it really funny to watch kind of all the memes and like um go through all the comments but I think that's what you sign up for when you go on a show like that. Like you're, you're setting yourself up to be criticized and people are always going to hate on you, whether you're the best person in the world,

whether you're, you know, a good person, politician, reality star, anyone, you are always going to have negative comments. And I always feel like putting yourself on that kind of platform,

you are, you're, you're putting yourself up to be susceptible to that kind of abuse as it were and i know it's not okay and i don't think that it's okay for people to abuse people over social media but it's part and parcel of doing a show like that and i think people almost take it too personally and like oh like i'm being online trolled and blah blah but you signed up for that life when you sign that contract to go on love island um and i think that's what people kind of need to realize as well like when people like oh like you said you didn't like megan like that's really mean it's like okay well i got

like an alien when i came off of love island so i think i'm entitled to have an opinion on someone thank you yeah did you watch any of your episodes back like did you like how you came across did you think it was true to who you really are honestly I tried to watch a couple of episodes and I found it really hard just because it's really weird hearing yourself hearing your own voice it's like when you probably hear yourself on your podcast you can't listen to it I Rachel's much better I can't listen to it I just cringe every time I hear my voice yeah it's really tricky and also seeing yourself kind of give like really shitty advice um or just like some some things that you put on you're like why why am i wearing that yeah why did i do that or you're going to the beach hut like really early in the morning if they call you up you're like why am i doing that i look horrible

i guess it would be like if someone just filmed your day-to-day life for a month you would be like oh my god livi what are you doing yeah don't say that don't wear that don't do that exactly um but I've watched little snippets and from what I can see and kind of the feedback that I had from my mum and my family and my close friends um they just said that I came across exactly how I was which I was really chuffed with that's good that's really good so in terms of the friendships that you make when you're in the villa it looks like you know you do form these really close bonds with the girls and with some of the guys um you know relationship stuff aside do you keep in touch with the people that you're in the villa with oh absolutely like

i speak to everybody intermittently i speak a lot to live amber georgia camilla gabby and georgia um yeah and i think it's it's difficult because you're all in the same boat and as much as i speak Amber, Georgia, Camilla, Gabby and Georgia. Yeah. And I think it's it's difficult because you're all in the same boat. And as much as I speak to like my best friends from home about everything, sometimes they won't get it. And that's obviously not because they're not being empathetic enough. It's just purely because they're not in it. And especially when you're going through everything for the first time, it's important to speak to people who understand what you're going through. going through everything for the first time it's important to speak to people who understand what you're going through um especially when it comes to like a bit of a crisis or if a story comes out

that's not true about you or something like that then it's always good to get someone's opinion who's in the public eye who understands like what it's like going through that kind of stuff and you almost have to nurture each other I think um just with what not to do what to do and like I've always been a bit of a grandma. Like, Liv always tags me in tweets just like, there's always that one girl who pays the bouncer to not let her in so she can go home. And I'm like, yeah.

And that is literally me. And I just think I like to try and look after the girls and to keep them out of trouble because sometimes, you know, and Liv, like, she's, sometimes I feel really bad for her because I think she gets a lot of stick but really she's just a young girl who wants to have fun um she wants to get pissed and she loves drinking she loves having a good time and you know she's really badly criticized for that and I almost feel like what 25 year old doesn't do that yeah I mean hello nice to meet you exactly so um yeah i'm really close friends with them i still speak to mike uh johnny i love johnny um simon yeah i speak to everybody it's

lovely and in terms of the actual relationships obviously from your season i think is the only relationship that's still together jamie and camilla yeah but a lot of them lasted for quite a long time you know it's been over a year on yeah you're on I don't know I think do you think it's possible to actually form a real lasting relationship in a show like that because obviously it's it's fundamentally an artificial setup isn't it it's sort of like putting men and women into a villa and being like go mate yeah. Yeah. Go have fun. Go have fun and have sex on camera. I think what it is, is that it depends where you are

and what stage you are in your life. Because for me, I was 21 when I came off the show. I wasn't particularly into the person that I was partnered up with. I thought I was at the time because, I mean, it was the best of a bad bunch. And also, when you don't have that much choice,

you almost kind of, it's weird because you know that the show, the show's premise is if you're not in a couple, you're going to go home. So I think psychologically, your body's almost like

gravitates you towards to like someone. Whereas I don't like people very easily in the outside world. I'm really kind of like, I get put off by like quite a lot we get the ick a lot yeah I get the ick it's disgusting and I think towards the last couple of days that I was in the villa I developed the ick so bad I was like oh my god I'm so stuck here because I'm not in love I'm nowhere near being in love and so as soon as I

left kind of all of this all of the attention all of the opportunities were kind of taking me here there and everywhere and I just thought you know I don't have time for a boyfriend and I'm at this I'm at a stage I'm at a stage in my life where a relationship isn't the top kind of priority for me I think my career um I put my career first absolutely which you would do if you're kind of like 21 and you've left Love Island like what else are you going to do but for example Camilla who's 28 and Jamie who's I don't know I think he's 30

they're the people that are kind of they want to find their soul mate they've gone on there for that purpose and that's what they've got so they're more inclined to make it work I mean maybe I could have tried to make it work but I didn't want to No and totally fair play to you quite frankly like you left the villa and had this amazing platform suddenly all these followers suddenly a voice what an

incredible situation to be in like duh of course you gotta focus on yourself yeah you don't want some dude slowing you down no and he was really slowing me down it was just it was tragic okay maybe this is the final question we're definitely gonna wrap up soon but did you never get to the point or were there never moments in the villa when you were like i actually want to i don't want to be here i've had enough i want to get voted out or something it was such a fun experience there wasn't one moment where i wanted to leave there was moments where i wanted my own space and the only thing that i didn't really like was the fact that you had to share a bed with someone that you were coupled up with because for the first six six weeks i wasn't in like a romantic couple i was just coupled up with people

as friends and i just felt a bit uncomfortable sharing a bed with some people because i knew it was just platonic but obviously you know what boys are they're just so they just anything with a pulse goes really and they just almost want to get their end away so they'd be really gropey and i just was like why am I in this position? I shouldn't have to, I'm coupled up with someone as a friend, and that's when I ended up sleeping outside. I slept outside for about a week,

because I was like, I can't be arsed. I don't blame you. I think I'd really struggle with that as well. I hate sharing a bed. Yeah, I hate sharing a bed anyway. Sometimes you just want your own space, and you're sharing a villa with 12 odd people that you don't really know that well.

You're sharing a bed with someone you don't know very well. It's all a lot I would go mental I really need like me time by myself yeah you don't get that no I

that's I like I love the idea of being like I want to go on Love Island but I would actually go mental there's only two toilets really

in the whole villa really yes not very many so like you end up just like guys I'm going for a shit so no one come in

no one come in sorry I realise I do have one more question i yeah i said okay okay it might be the same one i don't think it is the same one how does it work with like people taking time off their jobs because like you can't put hello i'm going to use up all my holiday allowance but also i might only use a week of it i don't really know because i don't know how long i'm going to be in there and how does that work most people quit their jobs like i was quite lucky because I left university

so I didn't have any ties. Perfect. But a lot of people leave their jobs and I think, especially last year, I know that some of the girls that were in Casa Amor that only were in it for a week, quit their jobs and obviously a week later. And everyone's forgotten who they are.

It's such a risk. It's not like their career is, you know. Yeah, I know. So it's a massive risk and I said at the beginning, kind of when I auditioned, I said, I only want to go on if I'm an original um good for you yeah you know I'm a bit of a mardy bum no good for you okay my final question is are you even able to consider the thought of actually like meeting people organically now to date I met my boyfriend organically did you yeah tell the story yeah

okay so i'd known him for years probably about six seven years like we were just friends that's nice i know he was quite ugly when he was younger he was gonna kill me for saying that but he was kind of hideous um and then suddenly he blossomed into a beautiful butterfly um we went out for my birthday we kind of like got along really well we always in a group in a group right we kind of gravitated towards each other and then i think we got really pissed one night and then classic yeah and then we got with each other and then literally since then we've been kind of inseparable that's so sweet yeah and that's lovely that he's an old friend he's not someone yeah and neither of us looked at each other in that way. Like, if you'd have asked me this, like, a year ago,

we were like, blech, like, yuck. Really? Yeah, it was one of those. Wow. Oh, damn it, that's so nice. I know. I don't have any, I don't think I even have any male friends

who could even be that. Oh, well. Yeah, look, family friends. Look around at the family barbecues next time. Okay, okay. I want to go delve into my history. Yeah. Okay, we probably need to wrap up there Look around at the family barbecues next time. Okay. I want to go delve into my history. Yeah. Okay.

We probably need to wrap up there on the Love Island interrogation. Yeah. But oh my God, I have learned so much and this has been so fun. I've literally loved it. I think we've got a few minutes for a quick dating dilemma. Okay. Shall we do it? I love dating dilemmas.

So this is one that a lovely listener sent to our Millennial Love Instagram DM. So thank you for sending that in. Hey, girls. I was wondering if you could maybe discuss what it's like to be chatting with someone on a dating app and then they suddenly vanish without explanation. So the messages are flowing. Maybe you've arranged a date and then suddenly they super ghost you. I think it's important to address the effects of having your hopes up

and then dash in an instant before you've even met them. A couple of my friends have had this happen to them and it's been really putting us all off dating, which is a real shame. Would love to hear your opinions and advice. So this has happened to me before. I remember one very notable time I was chatting to this guy on a dating app. We moved to like WhatsApp and we'd arranged to go out, but he was going away for work. So we arranged it for like a week's time and um we got to like a few days before the date and i mean we were just chatting and i sent

a message and then two days later he hadn't replied to that message and that was two days before the date so i sent a follow-up going hey just want to check with salon for friday i think it was a friday and um no reply ever like we had we had said we were going to go out on friday evening nothing i tell you what it is i almost feel like guys are really bad at communicating and i feel like instead of actually growing some balls and just saying look um i've met someone else um i got back with my ex or the actual reason why they haven't responded they just think super ghosting is an easier way which i think it's the price you pay for going on a dating app and

meeting someone unfortunately the trouble is i think ghosting is kind of kind of not exactly acceptable but it's a given when you're just in the chatting stage in the dating app but i do think it's unacceptable when you've either met up or talked about going on a date and said we're going to go out and then then to ghost? I just don't think it's OK because as the person who gets ghosted, you're then you don't have any closure and you're left feeling like what happened? What did I do wrong? You kind of super analysed. I think if you've got a plan with someone, especially like on a dating app, you know, there's not that many people that you probably match with. And you're like, you know what? I could actually go on a date with this guy exactly so when you do have a date organized i think it's so important that the guys just show the girl some

goddamn respect yeah and just tell her the honest reason you know we're all human like things crop up if you got back with your ex shame on you but still you know you still want to know about it don't you yeah otherwise it's just mixed signals which is my worst thing with dating people is that you know one minute they like you and one minute they don't i just can't bear the flightiness of it all my question is though with the ghosting thing what if you're talking to someone on a dating app they ask you out you don't really want to meet them oh yeah and say no do you just say no or do you just not reply i think no don't ghost them back i think say look i'm really sorry but i just don't feel like like there's any point in us going on a day.

At this point, I just feel like we don't really have that much in common. Right, I have some people I need to do that to. Just say you don't have, yeah, you don't feel like you have that much in common. Yeah. No, but then they'll reply and be like, then why have you been talking to me for three days? Yeah, why have you been talking to them? Oh, I don't know, Montana.

Don't, see, I think girls are just as bad. Girls are just as bad girls are just as bad i feel like some girls just just talk to boys it's like out of almost like pity to like fill this empty hole that they have yeah and then instead of just being like because they actually don't like these boys they're just like they're just chatting to someone for the sake of it so they can fill up their day with messaging something to do while i'm watching love island exactly to do in the breaks exactly so i feel like i'd rather i'd so rather be on my own than talk to just random boys who i don't actually get along with preach i know but then you never know when

you might meet someone that you're like oh actually we do click really well and we're gonna go on a date and it's great only speak to someone if you would actually go on a date with them that needs to be a rule yeah i think you're right and then try not to take it personally if this does happen to you because it's not you. It's them. It's the culture. Exactly. And if you get ghosted, then don't ghost other people back that will bring bad karma. I think you should be the bigger person and just treat people the way you would like to be treated. What a lovely note to end on.

My mum always used to say that to me. It's very good advice. Guys, thank you so much for listening, everyone. Please, if you've enjoyed today's episode and. Please, if you've enjoyed today's episode, and every episode if you've listened to them all, that is, please do subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts as this helps other people discover the podcast. And please keep sending in your dating dilemmas and disasters. You can slide into our DMs on Instagram at millennial underscore love,

or you can email us at millennial.love at independent.co.uk. And every story will be kept anonymous. You can also join our facebook group which is facebook.com forward slash groups forward slash millennial.love montana we cannot thank you enough for coming in pleasure we know you're super busy and my god how good i feel right now that i just have the answers to these burning questions i know i'm glad i could solve all your problems, guys. Honestly, so much solving has occurred, and now I feel like a weight has been lifted.

I'm glad. I'm glad. Thanks for having me, guys. It's been so great, and we hope everyone else has enjoyed and enjoys the rest of the series. Do you feel funny watching it now, this year's series, or no? I don't like it.

I feel like someone's in my house. I'm like, get out of my house. Oh, funny. Well, the series will commence and we will obviously be here discussing have a great week everyone see you soon bye bye Whether you're in your running era, Pilates era, or yoga era, dive into Peloton workouts that work with you. From meditating at your kid's game to mastering a strength program,

they've got everything you need to keep knocking down your goals. No pressure to be who you're not. Just workouts and classes to strengthen who you are. So no matter your era, make it your best with Peloton. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca.