Unlike the international versions, Love Island Australia lets Superfans vote throughout the season, but viewers have long suspected that those voters are actually producers.
The Superfans call the shots, from who’s made vulnerable to who scores a date with a bombshell, and even who’s sent packing. In contrast, the UK and US iterations of Love Island are filmed live, and it’s the viewers who are voting on those things.
While Love Island Australia’s Instagram advertises for new Superfans each year, those mysterious voters are never revealed to the audience, leading many to question if they even exist.
However, in the most recent episode of Love Island Australia: Officially Unpacked podcast, executive producer Josie Steele and creative director Alex Mavroidakis cleared up some of the many questions surrounding the controversial Superfans.
“The Superfans are real,” Josie stressed. “I wish they were fake sometimes, because it’s really hard managing them.”
Alex went on to explain why it’s extremely rare for a Superfan to pop up on social media and reveal themselves.
“What’s really annoying is that the reason they’re not popping up is because they sign an NDA and because [those NDA’s are] brilliant,” he explained. “They are paid, they watch raw vision from the villa. We need that mechanic because we’re not a live show.”
“I’m gonna tell you right now, pinky swear. I’ll do this to my kids. The Superfans are real, and I don’t pinky swear lightly,” he added.
Superfans’ decisions aren’t influenced by producers
Josie said that the Love Island producers don’t have any input into the Superfans’ decisions, and that at times, those choices even go against the storylines the producers had hoped for the season.
“To be honest, they think differently than us, sometimes, like, we are TV producers. So we’re often thinking about — it’s not that we craft anything — but we’re like, oh God, it would be cool if such and such happened, because that would be a really good story. And then the Superfans will be like, No, we like this person, or we want this to happen, and we have to go, oh, well, that’s what the audience thinks.”
Alex teased that an upcoming dumping will “drop jaws”, and make it clear that producers aren’t pulling the strings behind closed doors.
“There is no way, if we were decent producers, the result that happens would have happened. There’s some Red Wedding shit coming up,” he said.
Josie pointed out the social posts that go up on Instagram each year asking for Superfans to apply, and shared a tip for those keen to throw their hat in the ring.
“There’s a question in the Superfan application that’s like, ‘What’s your favourite Love Island moment?’ And my hot tip is to make that something really niche that will make us laugh. Like, I remember this year someone was like, ‘My favourite moment was from Season 3 when Taku accidentally put a puppy in the pool.’ I was like, ‘That’s niche. That person loves Love Island.'”
Love Island Australia airs Monday – Thursday on Channel 9 and 9Now.
Love to chat about Reality TV? Join us in our new Facebook group and come chat! Or follow us on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok for more entertainment news.
