Yana explains why their pre-recorded Love Island win was so 'awkward'

When viewers watched Yana and Kye be crowned the winners of Love Island Australia 2025, the couple didn’t actually know they’d won at the time, as each pair of finalists pre-recorded a winning segment. Instead, they found out at a watch party in Sydney, which they had with their castmates, including Gabby, Isabel, Connor, and Yana’s bestie, Jamie-Lee.

That revelation explains why the couple weren’t overly excited in the aired segment, with Kye simply saying he was “shocked” and Yana adding that it was “crazy”.

However, in a post-win interview with Chattr, Yana revealed that there was another reason they were so surprised when host Sophie Monk called their name.

“It was a bit awkward,” she said. “But when Kye and I got called, we actually didn’t realise it was our turn. We thought that I was going to do Jotham and Jaide again, so it was a bit of a shock to us in a way.

“We were like, oh, it’s us now? It was definitely weird not knowing if we actually won or not,” she laughed.

Many Australian reality TV shows stage endings for all the finalists to ensure that the final vote doesn’t get spoiled. The pre-recorded ending was particularly important for Love Island Australia, which isn’t filmed live, but has the winner decided by public vote.

While the couples are still in the villa in Spain, the show records a winning ending for each finalist. Once the votes are counted, the network simply airs the pre-recorded segment for the winning couple.

Love Island US and UK are filmed live, and the Australian version only switched to a pre-recorded format in 2022.

During an interview on the show’s official podcast Love Island Australia Officially Unpacked, creative director Alex Mavroidakis explained that the switch to a pre-recorded format was for logistical reasons.

“Love Island Australia is commissioned by Channel Nine for November and December,” he began. “They want to shoot it in Europe, but it’s bloody freezing in Spain during those months, so we have to shoot it in the European summer. That’s the only way to make the show work.”

He added that Channel Nine only broadcasts Love Island Australia from Monday to Thursday, so if the show were aired live, there would be three extra days of content with no time slot, pointed out that “it’s either this or nothing.”