Twelve singletons are about to descend on the brand new Love Island villa for a summer winter of cracking on and pieing off in the South African sunshine. 

We will be getting to know them a whole lot better over the next six weeks, but prior to their arrival in their spectacular new pad, we jetted off to Cape Town to give them a proper grilling. 

So, who was expelled from school as a child? Who recently weed themselves in the back of their aunt’s car? And who is poised to become the meme queen of the series?

It’s time to find out…

More of them actually applied to be on the show than you’d think

It’s no secret that Love Island uses a team of casting producers to help find potential Islanders. But this year, there’s more that applied through the traditional process. 

Callum originally applied for the last series, but got a call back for this one, as did Shaughna, while Mike, Connor and Leanne were also applicants.

Ollie also applied, despite never having seen the show before. He says: “My mum said ‘you’d be really good for it’ and I watched a couple of things on YouTube and thought yeah that looks a laugh, because I was bored and Cornwall is a pretty boring place for a 23 year old.”

Paige was also approached, presumably because of her previous relationship with Lewis Capaldi, while Rochelle Humes’ sister Sophie was asked to appear last year but turned it down due to other commitments, before she was asked again for this year’s series and said yes. 

Meanwhile, Siannise had a visit from casting producers at the beauty salon where she works. “We were talking about eyebrows at the time,” she says. “I thought they were just customers and I was talking to them like they were.”

Nas didn’t actually realise you could have sex on the show

Love Island might be known for couples getting raunchy between the sheets, but it seems that information hadn’t quite reached Nas. 

“I wasn’t even aware we were allowed to!” he says.

“I don’t think anything would make me want to have sex in the villa. At the forefront of my mind, my mum will be watching and that’s the last thing I’d want her to see.”

Siannise hasn’t done any prep to get ready for the villa

While the vast majority of the contestants admitted increasing their work-outs and going easy on the food over the festive period as they prepared to spend the next two months in their swimwear, Siannise was much less bothered. 

“I haven’t been to the gym once, I’ll be honest with you,” she confesses. “Ever since I found out, with Christmas and stuff, how can you?”

A girl after our own hearts right there. 

Shaughna was the contestant with the most embarrassing story to share

The 25-year-old told of how she recently had an accident in her aunt’s car after a particularly boozy afternoon. 

“Apparently I weed in my aunt’s car in March,” she says. “It was the day before I started my new job and she picked me up from a boozy brunch and was taking me home and I wet myself.

“She told me like two weeks later and said she’d had to wash her car three times. 

“I have no shame because I have no memory either,” she laughs. 

Connor’s time working as a butler in the buff wasn’t always as wild as you’d think

“Sometimes they’re crazy, sometimes they’re really boring,” Connor confesses to his time working as a naked waiter at private parties while living in Australia. “Sometimes I end up knitting!”

Recalling one specific party, he continues: “An old lady got me to glaze sausage rolls. Then she was like ‘come and sit on the balcony with me’, and I was just sat there with a few of her friends knitting.

 “She requested for me to have my bum out too – you get an extra £20 with your bum out,” he laughs.

Mike is going to be getting the most use out of the new boys dressing room

The villa has a new addition for 2020 in the shape of a boys dressing room, and it sounds like Mike is going to be getting the most use out of it. 

“I’m a diva when it comes to getting ready,” he says. “I can take between an hour and two hours – I procrastinate. I get in the shower and think I’m on X Factor, then I come out, put coco butter on, then I’m there playing with my nails and contemplating about life… I’m just that kind of guy.” 

Siannise is going to be the meme queen of this year’s series

And she’s fully expecting it too. 

“I absolutely think I will be,” she says. “It’s just going to be with the accent. 

“It’s just the way I pronounce everything really. I can say anything and it would just be like…”

She adds: “If someone is feeling a bit down, I can go and cheer them up and make them laugh with my Bristolian-ness.”

Ollie was previously expelled from his boarding school 

As the heir of Cornwall’s Lanhydrock estate, it came as no shock when Ollie revealed he went to private school as a kid, but his reason for getting expelled was much more surprising. 

Telling of how he was thrown out of Mounthouse prep school seven weeks after enrolling at the age of seven, he confesses: “I stole this kids conker. I had the best conker in the school. I’d bathed it in vinegar and stuff, and he stole it. 

“So I got him and I shook him and my conker fell out of his pocket, and then I dropped him.”

Islanders, beware if you decide to take on Ollie. 

Nas’ mum is probably going to become a star in her own right

“My mum will probably end up like Anton’s mum,” Nas says, remembering how Anton’s mum became an internet sensation after a few appearances on Aftersun during the last series.

“She’s a lovely woman. She would love to come to South Africa, she’d be buzzing. 

“I told my mum, ‘maybe you can meet the girls at Loose Women or the people at This Morning’, she’s told me I’ve got to take her with me if I meet them.”

Paige is hoping her ex Lewis Capaldi votes for her

Paige was in a relationship with hit singer Lewis when the pair were in their teens, with rumours his smash single Someone You Loved was written about her. 

And while their relationship ended many years ago, the pair have remained close, to the point where she thinks he will be joking about her appearance on Love Island. 

“Lewis is quite funny so I think he will definitely make a joke of it. He might even vote for me! 

“I would love to be a fly on the wall, not just for Lewis, but to see all my friends reactions, like what the hell is she doing on my television.” 

She says of his rise of stardom: “Even through college before we got together and even when we did get together, I always kept saying to him, ‘It’s a matter of time’. 

“He’s such a talented writer. So it was no surprise.”

There’s one exception to Siannise’s dislike of fudge 

While Siannise Fudge is the best name of any Islander there’s ever been, Siannise disappointed us in her introductory VT by admitting she’s not a fan of the sugary snack. 

But it seems that’s not entirely true. 

“One time I went to Cornwall and I went to a fudge shop and the fudge there was incredible,” she says. “There was a lemon meringue one and honestly, it is just a game changer. It’s probably the only fudge I will eat.”

Mike’s brother has been giving him tips on reality TV

Mike been getting coaching about appearing on reality TV from his brother Samuel, who was a candidate vying for Lord Sugar’s business investment on the 2016 series of The Apprentice. 

“He has given me a few tips which I’m grateful for,” Mike explains. “He’s given me tips on how to act, how to speak to people and what to expect, so I feel like I’ve got an idea of what to expect when I get in the villa.”

Samuel was fired in a double sacking during the eighth week of the BBC reality show, but Mike expects to last longer in the Love Island process. 

“There’s not really rivalry because I think I’m better than him anyway,” he jokes. “He might disagree, but that’s up for debate. I think I’ll do better than him.”

Sophie had to check Rochelle wasn’t presenting the show

After regular Love Island host Caroline Flack was standing down for the upcoming series following an assault charge. 

One of the names in the mix to replace her in the press was Sophie’s sister Rochelle Humes. 

Prior to Laura Whitmore eventually being confirmed as Caroline’s replacement, Sophie admitted she got in touch with her sibling after being told she’d be entering the villa. 

She laughs: “I saw Rochelle’s name in the mix and she said, ‘Don’t worry, I’m not doing it!’” 

Ollie could be about to pop up on another reality show

We’ve not seen a minute of him on Love Island yet, but already Ollie has said there have been “murmurings” of him and his sister appearing on Made In Chelsea, having spent years partying in London after studying just outside of the capital.

Asked if it is something he’d consider after leaving the villa, Ollie adds: “Yeah potentially. [Love Island] for me is all about finding love, it’s not about getting famous after this. If that happens it happens, but if I was going to pick a TV show to go into after this it would actually be ITV racing. 

“I’d like to be a racing pundit of all things because I’m really into racing.”

After it is pointed out he would be following in the footsteps of series three Islander Chris Hughes, who now fronts part of ITV’s racing coverage, Ollie jokes: “Yeah, but he doesn’t know much about horses.” 

Fighting talk. 

Connor took a serious risk getting his veneers done

While Connor said getting his teeth done had “helped him massively” with women, it he admitted he was a “bit mental” in his quest to have them done. 

He says: “I was on a roof in Australia and some bloke I was working with, came back and had his whole mouth done. They looked so good that I looked online and then I flew there one month later. That’s where I got them done, in Thailand. 

“Bit mental, really Looking back now, it was a bit crazy.” 

Mike is poised to be the couples’ counsellor of the villa

Mike’s job in the police has been a training ground for life in the villa, revealing he has “saved a lot of relationships” during his time working as a first responder. 

“You’d be surprised, but we’re basically like marriage counsellors,” he says.

“We go into people’s houses and I tell people how to run their lives, which is weird, because I’ll go in and they’ve been married for 25 years and be there like, ‘you shouldn’t be doing that, you should show her more respect, look at the kids’.”

Mike added that he will “naturally” find the role of carer and confidante in the villa. 

“If people need that person to talk to, they come to me and I’ll give them as much back as I can,” he said. 

Jess and Eve have links with lots of previous Islanders

The pair were keen to name-drop their famous pals, with Jess bragging: “We know all the reality TV stars – ex Love Islanders. We get along with Kem [Cetinay, winner of series three] and Josh [Denzel, series four finalist]. 

“We go out in London a lot and everyone knows everyone, you see the same people.” 

Eve continues: “When I saw Josh the week before we were coming on Love Island, I avoided him because I knew if I was speaking to him, I’d slip it out.”

Jess adds: “Two weeks before we went into hiding, we went out and saw Michael, Chris and Danny [from series five].  

“They came up to us and asked if we wanted to go into the club with them as they needed girls to get into the club, but we didn’t want to get to know them all and people think we got the place through them.”

Jess is the older twin

By two minutes, apparently. 

There’s going to be plenty of catchphrases from the new Islanders

Prepare to expand your Love Island vocabulary, as the new bunch of Islanders are coming armed with a set of new catchphrases. 

Arguably, Leanne has the best one of all, with the term ‘situationship’. 

She explains: “It’s where you can’t be bothered to have a relationship, but you know it’s just convenient. 

“You are still kind of exclusive, you just haven’t made it there yet. I’m always in a situationship!”

Of his catchphrase, Ollie reveals: “I say ‘send it’ a lot. Like if you go all out and go for it, ‘send it’. I also say ‘peak’ a lot, everyone knows what peak means.”

Nas says he will be using French phrase ‘Je ne sais quoi’ for something you can’t quite describe.  

“I learnt that a couple of days ago and I’ve been using it ever since,” he laughs. 

Paige says: “I like Scottish words like ‘belter’. If a really nice looking girl came in you’d say, ‘She’s a belter.’”

Bristolian Siannise says she will also be saying a classic local phrase to her. 

“I’m going to chuck in a bit of ‘lush’!” she says. “We’ve got to have a bit of lush.

“It’s usually ‘gert lush’, but I cut the gert out.”

Love Island begins on Sunday at 9pm on ITV2.