Love Island is a reality TV show where singles come together in a luxurious villa, seeking romance and a chance to find love. There’s also a cash prize at the end, meaning things—the relationships and drama—can get pretty spicy. But you’d be surprised to learn how many winners have actually kept the prize all to themselves.
Related: Here’s who’s still together from Love Island USA season 6
Initially, winning couples were given the option to choose love or the cash prize in a segment called Split or Steal. But in Season 8 of Love Island UK, the show underwent a major format change that would remove the option for couples to do each other dirty; they’d have to split the £50,000.
Love Island USA, however, still gives contestants the option when they’re presented with one envelope each—one empty and the other containing the prize money. The contestant that ends up with the prize fund envelope can decide to keep the money for themselves or split it with their partner. Which begs the question: has anyone been that much of an asshole?
Has anyone ever kept the money on Love Island?
No winner across any major Love Island iteration has decided to keep the money for themselves, likely because they finish the show in a relationship with someone they care about and therefore don’t want to screw their new romantic partner over.
Serena and Kordell, who won season 6 of Love Island USA in 2024, explained to USA Today how they were going to spend their cash and it’s all pretty sensible stuff. Oh, yeah, and they decided to split their winnings like everyone else.
“I’m saving it up and just going to navigate life normally and yeah, just… Keep it in my a— pocket for the rest of the day.” Kordell said. “I’m saving, but I’m also investing into my career, you know, business opportunities to grow more and get, you know, tenfold for the modeling, endorsement sponsors, whatever happens, you know, those opportunities I’ll take them in.”
Serena meanwhile, is treating it a bit like a rainy day fund. “I was living without it, so I’ll just pretend it’s not there and put it in my savings,” she told Collider.
According to a source quoted by The Sun in 2022, “The decision to split or keep the money has gone, so when the couple wins they will automatically share the prize money. This has been a series with a number of format changes, including the viewers’ choice in the first recoupling, just to keep the show feeling fresh.”
