Irish Love Island star Catherine Agbaje has been backed to win the series already.
Ladbrokes have tipped the Dublin Real Estate agent 5/1 to be crowned this year’s winner.
The hotly anticipated ninth season of Love Island will kick off next week and Ladbrokes has already seen support for Dublin’s Catherine Agbaje to be crowned ‘Top Girl’ later this summer.
Doncaster bombshell Molly Marsh is the current favourite at 11/4, but Catherine Agbaje is hot on her heels at 4/1.
READ MORE: Dublin real estate agent is heading into the Love Island villa as this year's line up is revealed
Nicola McGeady of Ladbrokes said: "Summer has well and truly kicked off with the announcement of the 2023 Love Island hopefuls and punters in the Emerald Isle are already rallying behind Dublin’s Catherine Agbaje to go all the way on this year’s series. Roll on an exciting and drama-filled summer of TV romance."
Meanwhile, 26-year-old gas engineer Michael Taylor is the 11/4 favourite for ‘Top Boy’, followed by André Furtado at 7/2 and George Fensom at 4/1.
Elsewhere, it has been speculated that Catherine could earn just £25 per sponsored post on Instagram before she heads into the villa.
New findings from JeffBet have revealed how much the 2023 Love Islanders currently make on Instagram - with Molly Marsh named the highest-earner so far.
The Doncaster-born social media creator currently boasts the highest follower count at 40.8k, and is estimated to be earning £240 per sponsored post on the platform.
This means each of her followers is worth 0.0058p, which is significantly more than the going rate of 0.0033p for the typical Instagram user, as reported by the Influencer Marketing Hub. This increase is likely due to her engagement rate (1.2%) and average likes (424) per post.
Interestingly, she’s the only contestant from the new series - which airs next Monday - that has a creator account, meaning the others are yet to make the switch.
Creators accounts are recommended for the Islanders as they allow them to filter out DMs, schedule posts, add industry-related labels to their bios, and add sponsored links to stories.
Molly’s famous family no doubt helped to boost her online popularity prior to being scouted for the villa, as she’s the daughter of Coronation Street star Janet Marsh, who also appeared in Bodies, In The Dark, Love, Lies and Records, and Still Open All Hours.
Fans certainly seem curious about the connection, with Google Trends data showing searches for ‘Molly Marsh mum’ skyrocketed by 9,900% once the line-up was announced.
The creators’ online popularity puts her in good stead to make a fortune through branded posts, collabs and sponsorship deals, as her follower count is already almost three times higher than Molly-Mae Hague’s was before she ventured into the villa.
However, she has a long way to go before she reaches Molly-Mae’s earning potential, as the mogul apparently earns a whopping £20,230 per sponsored post.
On the other end of the scale, the 2023 Islander that will need to work the hardest to boost their Instagram earnings is French model Medhi Edno, as he has just 4.8k followers so far.
If each follower is worth 0.0033p for a typical user, Mehdi can currently only charge about £13 per sponsored post - less than the average UK hourly pay.
Generally speaking, the girls stand to make significantly more money online than the male contestants, with an average per-post value of £70, compared to the boys’ £23.
Instagram is arguably one of the most important revenue streams for the Islanders - beyond brand partnerships - as they look to boost their social influence after departing from the villa.
This is easier said than done, as you’d need at least 6.25 million followers in order to make the current national living wage (£20,632) if each were worth 0.0033p. So, as well as attracting fans, Islanders will have to upload engaging content to boost their per-post value.
They might struggle to do so until they leave the villa, however, as this year’s contestants won’t be allowed to hand over their Instagram reigns to a friend or family member.
Discussing the research, a JeffBet spokesperson said: “Love Islanders are becoming an increasingly valuable marketing tool for many businesses, so naturally this year’s contestants will be hoping to boost their popularity to attract the biggest and best brands.
“Whilst everything can change subject to what occurs on the show, it’s likely that Molly Marsh will be a high-earner from this year’s series, as she’s got all the makings of an influential Islander - including an existing fan base, creator account and famous friends.”
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