Love Island's strict rules revealed - from long waits to talk to co-stars to begging for the toilet

It’s been five years since Chris Taylor first rose to fame on Love Island and, while he may not have found love on the show, he has had one heck of a ride ever since.

After his appearance raised Chris’s profile and even led to a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it role in the hit movie Barbie, the 33-year-old returned to the villa for a second go at romance in January in Love Island: All Stars.

And with the iconic dating show back on our screens, Chris chats exclusively about what life on the ITV2 show is really like
– from queuing for cameras to leaving the villa for cheat meals. After bagging a regular spot on the show’s spin-off Aftersun and currently filming for the 13th series of Celebs Go Dating, he also provides an update on his ongoing search for love…

Hi, Chris! What are your thoughts on this series of Love Island so far?

It’s early days, but it’s looking really good. The line-up is looking spicy and they threw in Joey Essex, which is kind of like a multiverse moment. I liked that they did something different during the first episode by coupling up the Islanders based on who was the most “boyfriend or girlfriend material” – it added more depth to it rather than being purely based on aesthetics.

Is it nerve-wracking going into the villa?

It’s the next level of nervousness. I actually forgot how to walk the first time I did it. They make you do your “walk-in” over and over again. My legs failed, my brain failed. It feels like you’ve gone for a nap and then, all of a sudden, you’re walking into this villa that you’ve seen on TV so many times but never seen in real life. And if you’re going in as a bombshell, you’ve been watching all these people on TV so they feel famous to you. It’s weird. It’s hard as a bombshell, especially if you go in late. I was basically doing the graveyard shift when I went in because everyone was so settled.

What can the Islanders expect when they leave the show?

Leaving the show is really weird. My favourite comparison for this is finding out that you’re Harry Potter. People just randomly start chatting to you in the street. It can be tough some days when you just want to get a coffee and go home, but it is nice too. Being on the show matures you because you have to learn things fast.

You’ve been successful since the show. What’s your secret?

I think finding a niche is important. I established early on that a lot of Islanders did gym content on social media or just focused on looking good. So I thought, “How can I do it differently and make myself stand out?” Then, being a nice person helps – which you can’t really teach. You get a lot of opportunities to meet people who could later hire you and kindness goes a long way. Also, it’s how much people resonate with you on the show. That has a big impact on what you do after.

Can the reaction be difficult to deal with?

There’s always going to be backlash and haters but I’ve had a lot of therapy to deal with that. ITV provided therapists, so I’ve learnt how to cope. I only really care about what my friends and family say and their opinions, not haters online. The reaction was more mixed after All Stars than my first series, but I stuck to my morals in there and I was myself so I don’t have regrets. Of course, you only see an hour of 24 hours, but I wouldn’t say I was overproduced or edited in any type of way. Everything you saw was exactly what I did.

What’s the food like in the villa?

Oh well, they made us eat out of troughs like pigs! Nah, I’m only joking, it’s just pretty standard catering. It’s not bad. But there was a day off when the girls and boys separated and we got to go out and have a McDonald’s, which was pretty good.

Ha, what was your McDonalds order?

My usual McDonald's order is a large Big Mac meal with a milkshake, five chicken selects, a double cheeseburger, and six chicken nuggets. I also normally have a wrap and then I'll have a fruit bag for balance. I like to combine all of the condiments where I can too. I've actually once experimented with making loaded fries by putting a deconstructed Big Mac on top of the fries. That was glorious, one of the better days of my life!

You’re a panellist on Aftersun and also recording the Love Island podcast this year…

I’m doing the podcast on Thursdays and Fridays and then Aftersun on Sundays, so it’s busy. I’m excited but I think in the Aftersun studio I’ll be nervous because it’s live TV, which isn’t my best friend. I say things without thinking and the filter isn’t that strong! When they asked me, it was a bit of a no-brainer. Having done Love Island twice now, there’s a whole lot of useless knowledge in my head that I thought I might as well utilise. It’s like when you’ve had a girlfriend for however long and then you’ve got all this knowledge about them in your brain and nowhere to put it. At least this way, I’m putting the knowledge to good use.

Were there many differences between the first series you did and All Stars?

All Stars was much more relaxed and there were fewer rules – maybe because the producers knew we had done it before. It felt strange because we could just talk whenever we wanted, whereas in my first season the availability of cameras meant there was a bit of a queue. There are a lot of people in there, so if a chat is going to go down, sometimes there’s a queue for a camera. So they’ll be like, “Right, hold that. We’ll have that chat in a minute.” Also, if you wanted to go for a vape, you had to ask. Basically, if you wanted to go for a poo, you had to ask! And in All Stars there were a lot of pre-existing friendships in there, which I think affected the voting a little bit.

And you’re filming for series 13 of Celebs Go Dating. How is it going?

It’s going really well, I’m enjoying it. I’ve got a dinner date tonight and a brunch date tomorrow, so it’s busy. I am looking for The One now. If I don’t find it, I may have to retire from dating altogether.

There’s always Love Island: All Stars season two…

No, I don’t think I should do that. There comes a time when it’s like, “Should you really be here again?” I’d say I’m retired from Love Island.

Chris has partnered with McDonald’s for its new Surprize Fries promotion, where customers are in with a chance of winning millions of prizes until 2 July.