What jobs did Love Island contestants have before ITV show including Molly-Mae Hague, Maura Higgins and Dami Hope?

While Love Island hopefully brings relationships for contestants, it also acts as a platform to launch careers as social media influencers by generating a large following online and opportunities to connect with companies.

Despite multiple former contestants going on to make millions from their five-weeks of fame, others have gone back to their original jobs such as Paige Thorne returning to work as a paramedic, Dr Alex George to medical work, or Amber Davies as an actress.

The ITV dating show, and the ensuing social media fame, may put the Islanders out of touch of fans, but PeopleWorld takes a closer look at what some of the former villa inhabitants did from 9-5.

Molly-Mae Hague

Perhaps known as the face of Love Island, 2019 runner up Molly-Mae Hague had an assortment of part-time jobs before entering the villa as a bombshell and finding her now baby-Daddy Tommy Fury.

Before Molly moved to Manchester at the age of 18 to pursue a career as a social media influencer, she earned some money as a lifeguard and a part-time salesperson in Boots, alongside her sister Zoe.

The Pretty Little Thing creative director shared a throwback picture of her time as a lifeguard on Instagram stories in 2020, commenting, ‘Honestly I still have nightmares about this staff room.’

Maura Higgins

Irish beauty Maura Higgins made waves when she entered the 2019 villa and she was no stranger to waving flags as she formerly worked as a Monster Energy girl and ring girl.

For the former role, Maura travelled the world appearing at motocross events for the Monster Energy drink company, exemplified by the Monster Energy FIM Speedway of Nations.

It may come as no surprise that Maura used to work as a ring girl after she turned her focus to boxer Tommy Fury when coming into Love Island, but Maura has appeared for the likes of Anthony Joshua and Amir Khan.

Dami Hope

A key character from Love Island 2022 was Dami Hope, a senior microbiologist who got to the final with his partner Indiyah Polack, and came third.

Dami’s role included conducting studies and research, with the focus on the growth, development and behaviour of microorganisms.

Funny, smart and sexy… no questioning whether Dami Hope gave some of the girls ‘hope’ for the future.

Greg O’Shea

Rugby player and law student Greg O’Shea entered the 2019 Love Island villa at the last moment to sweep Amber Gill off of her feet, to swipe the reality show’s trophy.

After leaving Majorca, Greg returned to his job as a professional rugby union player for Ireland, and ended up playing for his country at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics before announcing his retirement.

Greg said on Instagram: “It’s impossible to put into words everything that I’m feeling today after playing in the Olympics. This journey has been years in the making and although we didn’t put in the performance we wanted, I am so incredibly proud to have represented my country with my mates at the top sporting level."

Camilla Thurlow

Love Island may have many a bombshell, but one former contestant who knew how to diffuse the situations was Camilla Thurlow, who worked in explosive disposal.

Known for dating Prince Harry, Camilla used to travel the world including a stint in Afghanistan, to locate and identify ordnance and then evaluate how much danger the local civilians were in.

Since her time in the villa, Camilla has used her platform to spread love and positivity and share pictures of her family with 2017 bombshell Jamie Jewitt.