Is Love Island staged? Accusations resurface after fans watch Georgia split with Sam

Love Island fans are once again claiming they have proof the show is "fake", after spotting an apparent continuity fail in one of the opening scenes of last night's episode.

During the moment where Georgia and Sam were forced to choose whether to stay together and leave the villa, or split and stay on the island, viewers pointed out that Georgia appeared to have a full set of fake nails in early shots... but not in scenes broadcast just moments later.

"Uhmm, excuse me but how is the 2nd photo technically filmed only moments after the 1st?" one fan who took screenshots of the scene asked. "You're telling me she's lost all her nails in 10 min [sic]."

One photo was posted from when Georgia's fellow islanders were deciding which couple to save. The other was taken during a moment where she was deciding whether to stay with Sam.

Many fans of reality TV turn into detectives on social media in order to confirm their suspicions of alleged staging. However, this seems to be more a case of either different lighting, or just a continuity gaffe where filming was halted for a moment, during which time Georgia removed her nails without producers realising.

Several former contestants have spoken about how the show is filmed, saying producers do not make contestants do anything that has not already happened or anything that they don't want to do.

"They would prompt you," 25-year-old model Tyla Carr, who appeared in last year's series, said. "They may suggest it would be a good idea if you brought something up or discussed something. Basically, if you've had three separate conversations with someone, they may ask you to have the conversation again all in one go to make it better viewing."

Kady McDermott, from Love Island 2016, told Cosmopolitan that contestants "had to film multiple takes during the challenges". Eyal Booker, who was dumped from the island last month, said scenes were not staged in 2018 and that producers asked contestants not to pre-warn them before a dramatic scene or conversation.

Responding to an earlier suggestion of "faked" Love Island scenes, a spokesperson said: "It is absolutely untrue to suggest Love Island is fake. The opinions they have and the relationships formed are completely within the control of the Islanders themselves.

"As we have said since series one, Love Island is a combination of reality and produced elements. Any produced elements are designed to allow viewers to understand what the Islanders are feeling and to help move narrative threads on."

Elsewhere in last night's episode, Georgia and Sam both went on dates with the four new contestants who arrived on the island after their split.

Georgia seemed intrigued by Paul, a former carpenter and now model, despite not knowing what a carpenter was (she thought it meant he fitted carpets for a living).

She also had a falling out with Dani and Jack, after they criticised her and Sam for their decision to stay on the island rather than remain as a couple and leave.