Love Island cast: this is most typical contestant on the ITV show - from age to job, hair colour and hometown

Series seven of Love Island has kicked off with a bang - well a kiss and some toe sucking, but you know what I mean.

Before the contestants met each other, ITV bosses shared who was entering the villa and a little bit about them.

The media and fans were quick to notice Hugo was the first participant ever to have a physical disability, as ITV bosses aim to diversify the islanders and make the show relatable for all.

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But, how diverse is the show and what have been the preferred attributes of Islanders past and present? NationalWorld has analysed all the former contestants and identified what the most common traits are, broken down by male and female.

Age

Who remembers ‘Old Laura’? That’s right, Laura Anderson was considered old when she entered the villa in season four. Yet she was only 29 at the time.

Tabloids riffled through her social media profiles and found snaps of her at a friend's 30th, fuelling rumours she had lied about her age.

By reviewing all girls who have appeared on the show, it appears the producers favour young women, with the most common age of female contestants being just 22.

More broadly, females aged 22 to 26 were the preferred type, making up over 60 percent of contestants. Younger women, aged 18 to 21, made up nearly 30 percent, while 27 to 30-year-olds made up less than a tenth.

This was almost mirrored in the ideal male age groups, though there were significantly more men aged over 25.

For the boys, 47 per cent were aged between 23 and 26, with 24 being the preferred age.

29 percent of men were aged between 20 and 22, with no men under 20 appearing on the show. There have been 25 men aged between 27 and 31 in the show - in stark contrast to the nine women aged above 26.

Ethnicity

Diversity in terms of race and ethnicity has been a much discussed issue among critics of Love Island.

On Love Island, nearly 80 percent of women and just under 7 out of 10 men have been white.

This more or less corresponds with average for the population as a whole, with around 84 percent of the UK population being white, according to the 2011 census.

Around seven percent of females have been black, while this is greater for men, at 13 percent.

There have been more mixed race contestants in the villa than black and Asian contestants.

One in 10 women, and 15% of male islanders have been mixed race.

People of Asian ethnicity have been the least represented in the villa , with only seven appearing on the show since it began. Three were women and four were men, equating to just three percent of contestants.

Asian people make up around 7.5 percent of the UK population and are the second largest ethnic group in the UK, therefore they have been hugely underrepresented in the villa.

Home region

Of the 200 contestants who have appeared on the show across its seasons, most of them have come from London and the South East.

23 percent of the women who have taken part in the show have been from London, while one in 10 came from Essex.

Just under 10 per cent of men came from London, while eight per cent came from Essex.

Many of the male contestants have also been from Manchester.

Aside from England, the other three UK nations ranked significantly low for contestants chosen for the show.

Hair colour

While hair colour is a trivial factor, there were clear patterns of preference in what producers favoured in choosing cast from candidates.

Of all 96 women who have appeared on the show, 50 percent were blonde and 39 percent were brunette. Only one ginger girl has appeared on the show (Demi Jones, season six). 13 per cent had black hair.

For men, dark was considered most handsome. Of the male contestants, just over 6 in 10 had brown hair, nearly 25 percent (24.5) had black hair and only 14 percent had blonde hair. There have been no ginger men in any season.

Profession

It may come as no surprise that most men on the show work within the sports industry - from personal trainers to semi professional athletes.

A quarter of men on the show are linked to sport, while a further tenth are models. Two in 10 work in the manual labour sector, from brick layers to tradesmen.

For girls, modelling is the most common profession according to the stats. Over two in 10 girls are models, while a further 15 percent work in the beauty industry.

Sales and business also ranked relatively high for both men and women, while only one charity worker has featured (Camilla Thurlow) and only a handful work in the medical profession.

Name

There were no definitive winners for most favoured name.

The most common names for male contestants in the villa have been Alex, Chris and Josh, while Ellie, Chloe and Amber have been the most common women’s names.

The most typical Love Islander

By reviewing the statistics available, NationalWorld has determined the profile of the most typical male and female Love Island candidate.

For men

Age: 24

Region: London / South East

Job role: Personal trainer

Ethnicity: White

Hair colour: Brown

For women

Age: 22

Job role: model

Region: London

Ethnicity: white

Hair colour: blonde

Data was taken from Love Island’s fandom page and the 2011 census.