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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Amy Denman

Inside the Love Island 2022 final from secret drop-off to confiscated phones

Love Island has come to an end with Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and Davide Sanclimenti being crowned this year's winners.

While many tuned in to watch the final from home, some lucky people got to travel to the villa to witness host Laura Whitmore crowning the winners in real-time.

And those who paid a trip to the love nest have spilled all the behind-the-scenes details about the grand finale - from secret drop offs to their phones being confiscated.

Despite the endless bombshells and wonderful introductions of this year's contestants, the process of entering the villa during the final isn't as simple as being driven in on a 4x4 convertible as fans see on TV.

The source complimented Laura's presenting and gushed over how 'lovely' she was (Matt Frost/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

A source exclusively told the Mirror: "We got put on a coach to a secret drop-off place, which is like this restaurant in the middle of nowhere.

"They took our phones because they don't want any other recordings and people being on their phones during finals."

They added: "We got a coach for like 20 minutes to the middle of nowhere to the villa and security was insane.

"The villa is so much smaller in person than it is on TV – it looks massive on TV."

Once they reached the location, the contestants were greeted by a 'hype man' who helped them get ready to enter the villa.

Ekin-Su and Davide shook hands and blew kisses at the audience (Matt Frost/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Hair and make-up swooped in during breaks (Matt Frost/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

The witness said: "Then there was the hype man, who was trying to obviously get everyone in the mood – he was really good. And he then introduced all the Islanders because they were bought out pretty soon after we were seated."

During the final, the final four couples were seen standing in the back while Laura introduced the show and the contestants.

They said of the winners before the episode: "Davide was shaking people's hands and like blowing kisses and Ekin-Su was blowing kisses, too."

The insider went on to compliment host Laura and praised her for how well she 'bossed it' while interacting with the crowd and presenting.

Insiders said Laura was 'really lovely' to the audience (Matt Frost/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

"Laura was lovely and like she was smiling at everyone like hyping everybody up as well and like being really really nice," they said.

"They [the production team] also threw some impromptu stuff at her and she bossed it. They would shoot some pre-recorded stuff in one take, which was cool."

During the breaks, hair and makeup would swoop in to do touch-ups before they started rolling again.

The witness said: "Whenever there was a break hair or makeup with like swarm around Laura Whitmore and all of the contestants.

"And then they'd hand out all their like water bottles and everything."

Gemma and Luca came in second place as Davide and Ekin-Su were crowned the Love Island winners (Matt Frost/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Although Voiceover star Iain Stirling didn't appear on the live final, he was on the villa grounds to cheer on his wife.

They said of Iain during the breaks: "Iain was there. He was like heckling Laura, like in a cute, really cute way. You could tell that they're really really in love.

"He was chilling with her and then like he went and stood [away], I don't think you could see him on screen because he was where the kitchen was."

The villa is 'smaller' in real life (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

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After the show wrapped, some of the Islanders were taking photos, including Ekin-Su.

The witness said: "Ekin was taking loads of pictures in different poses and stuff."

Meanwhile, some of the Islanders got chatting with the crew while some of the winners stayed out to take photos and do some promotional stuff.

Once they were again greeted by the cheering crowd, the eye-witness said they were "blowing kisses and doing hearts" with their hands and "saying thank you".

The source added: "Ekin-Su kept going, 'I love you so much, I love you so much,' at everyone there."

Then, the audience were driven back via a transfer.

The audience member said: "The transfers can only go one at a time because the roads are so steep so we had to wait for ages and were standing in the villa while the ITV people were celebrating."

The source said: "You're there for two, three hours so it's quite intense".

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