Has anyone ever taken the money on 'Love Island'? One of the partners in the winning couple usually has the opportunity to take the entire £50,000 each season.
Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for Love Island U.K.
After eight weeks and several explosive arguments from Davide Sanclimenti and Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, Season 8 of Love Island U.K. officially concluded with a live finale on Aug. 1.
In the finale, the last four pairs, who had all formed strong connections during the course of the summer, learned the results of the public vote. Once the winners (whose names will be left out for the sake of spoilers) were crowned at the end of the episode, one final twist was revealed.
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For the first time in the show's history, the Season 8 winners weren't asked whether they wanted to split the money. Instead, the choice was taken away from them.
"The winning couple will split a huge £50,000 and, this year, we are not even asking them to choose between love and money," host Laura Whitmore said during the finale.
Though one of the Season 8 winners didn't have to decide whether to select love, or to take the full check, all of the previous Love Island U.K. winners were given that choice.
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Has anyone ever taken all of the money on 'Love Island'?
Since it was rebooted in 2015, Love Island U.K. has largely been about bringing sexy singletons together for the purpose finding love in a luxury villa. However, the islanders know throughout that the public is voting for them and that, ultimately, one duo will win £50,000.
Though Season 1 winners Jess Hayes and Max Morley each had the choice to pick love or money (if they both picked money, neither would have walked away with anything), the format of the finale changed slightly for Seasons 2 through 7.
Typically, during the live finale, after the winning duo is announced, the Love Island host will ask each winner to pick an envelope. One envelope has £50,000 written on the inside, while the other has a £0 message.
The winner who chooses the lucky £50,000 envelope then has access to the entire prize. He or she can offer to split the winnings (aka to choose love), or the winner can take it all.
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None of the individual winners from the first seven seasons of Love Island U.K. ever took the entirety of the prize. Because most of the winners were in relationships with their partners by the time the finale rolled around, they all decided to divide the money in half.
Season 2 winners Cara De La Hoyde & Nathan Massey, who are now married, split the money after Cara got the £50,000 envelope. On Season 3, Kem Cetinay decided to share the prize with his then-girlfriend, Amber Davies.
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The following year, for Season 4, Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham shared after the latter star picked the right envelope. Though late Season 5 arrival Greg O'Shea was only on Love Island U.K. for a few days before he won with fan favorite Amber Gill, he decided to split the money as well.
Paige Turley (who got the prize money envelope) and Finn Tapp, who are still dating, shared the winnings, as did now-broken up pair Millie Court (who selected the big envelope) and Liam Reardon.
Nobody (to date) has stolen the money on 'Love Island USA,' either.
On the U.S. spin-off of Love Island, the stakes are slightly higher for the winning pair, as $100,000 is on the line. However, nobody on the stateside edition of Love Island has ever taken all of the money, either.
The Season 1 winners were Elizabeth Weber and Zac Mirabelli, while Justine Ndiba and Caleb Corprew split the money after winning Season 2. Olivia Kaiser and Korey Gandy, who won the final CBS season of Love Island USA, also each took $50,000 at the end.
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None of the aforementioned winning couples are still dating.
It remains to be seen if Season 4 of Love Island USA, which is currently airing on Peacock, will follow suit with Season 8 of Love Island U.K. by eliminating the finale choice.
New episodes of Love Island U.K. drop for viewers in the U.S. on Hulu on Tuesdays through Saturdays.
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