Summer’s hit reality show, Love Island, just wrapped up and the stars of the show are finally getting real about what it’s really like to sleep in the villa. Even though the show takes place in paradise, getting a good night’s sleep there is far from a walk on the beach.
I’m sure many of us watched each “hot new bombshell” enter the villa this summer, fascinated by the glitz and escapism of it all. While the show certainly has its glamorous moments, the sleeping situation is not one of them.
Imagine trying to sleep in a room of 20 strangers while your every move is being recorded to broadcast on national television… That’s enough to make anyone lose some shut-eye.
That’s why Love Island stars from around the world have recently taken to TikTok to reveal the truth about what it’s like to sleep in the iconic villa.
What Is It Like to Sleep on ‘Love Island’?
Contestants on Love Island essentially sign up to live in a bubble for 6-8 weeks and that means they have no connection to the outside world, including clocks.
That’s right, the villa bombshells don’t even know what time of day it is, which can make it very hard to tell when it’s bedtime.
“There was no specific bedtime. All I know is that it was late,” said Caine Bacon, a contestant on Love Island USA, in a recent video.
Jordan Dowsett, recent contestant on Love Island Australia, found out that they often got less than 6 hours of sleep each night, leading to sleep deprivation.
“I found out that on our biggest nights, we were going to bed at around 4:30 in the morning and then getting up at about 10 a.m.,” said Dowsett in an interview with NinetoFive Fitness.
While this may seem like a first-world reality TV show problem, it’s hard to imagine what it would be like to live with no real concept of time. It’s enough to throw off anyone’s circadian rhythm and sleep schedule.
“You never knew what time you were going to bed or when you were waking up. You had no concept of time,” said Phoebe Siegel, from Love Island USA, in a recent video.
Not only was there confusion about what time to go to bed, contestants often had a hard time falling asleep. This led many to go to drastic measures to try to get some beauty sleep.
How Contestants Tried to Sleep
Siegel recently opened up on TikTok about her sleep routine during her time on the show.
“As someone who can fall asleep anywhere, I found it extremely hard to get a good night’s sleep on the show,” said Siegel in a recent video.
In order to sleep, Siegel had to don a bizarre combo of clothing in addition to taking melatonin gummies.
“I slept like this every single night: I wore my baggiest sweatshirt, my baggiest sweatpants, sunglasses, and then I had a pillow on top of my face,” she said.
Sleeping in sunglasses? Surely that can’t be comfortable. While that might sound odd to us, she said that she wore them to get some privacy and to keep her sleepy eyes out of view of the cameras.
Siegel also admitted that to get some sleep, she had to make a special request to keep melatonin in the medical tent. “I swear that’s what got me through every night,” she said about her melatonin.
While one night of poor sleep might not seem so bad, those effects can add up over time, which can lead to sleep deprivation. Here’s what the experts say about the effects of sleep deprivation.
How Does Sleep Deprivation Affect Your Health?
Many of us often joke about being sleep-deprived, but the truth is sleep deprivation can seriously impact your health over time.
When Does Sleep Deprivation Set In?
There’s no set time when sleep deprivation sets in, it depends on a variety of factors.
“Sleep deprivation can set in if you’re regularly getting less than seven hours of sleep per night. Most adults need between seven to nine hours of sleep to function optimally,” Dr. Chelsea Perry, a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, tells Sleepopolis.
That means that Love Island contestants often fall into the sleep-deprived range, which can seriously hurt their ability to function on the show.
“Getting no sleep for 24 hours, less than 4 hours of sleep for 1-2 nights in a row, 5-6 hours of sleep for several days in a row, or less than 7 hours of sleep for a few weeks can lead to sleep deprivation symptoms,” adds Dr. Greg Hammer, pediatric physician, and retired Standford University medical professor.
Effects of Sleep Deprivation
I’m sure all of us out there have been sleep-deprived at some point in our lives and we all know how hard it is to function on little sleep. But how does it specifically impact our health?
“When you don’t get enough sleep, your cognitive functions, such as memory and concentration, can suffer, making it harder to think clearly and make decisions. Over time, lack of sleep weakens your immune system, making you more susceptible to illnesses. It also affects your mood, often leading to irritability, anxiety, or even depression,” says Dr. Perry.
Not only that, but regular sleep deprivation can also impact weight gain and put you at greater risk for disease.
“Inadequate sleep may lead to obesity, at least in part due to disordered hormones that regulate appetite. Inadequate sleep also contributes to cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease, type 2 diabetes, and suppression of immune function – i.e. the diseases of aging. It can be said that chronic sleep deprivation actually ages us,” adds Dr. Hammer.
All these effects can be kind of scary, so here are some tips to help get your sleep schedule back on track if you find yourself up all night like the Love Island stars.
How To Reverse Sleep Deprivation
Sadly there’s no one-cure heals-all approach to fixing sleep deprivation. But Dr. Hammer suggests taking short naps of 20 minutes or less if you find yourself struggling to concentrate because of lack of sleep.
“It seems that it can take up to 4 days to recover from one hour of lost sleep overnight, and more than a week to recover from several days of insufficient sleep,” adds Dr. Hammer.
As much as we wish one night’s worth of good sleep could reverse the damages of sleep deprivation, it takes consistent sleep hygiene to get back on track.
Sources
Perry, Chelsea. Personal Interview. August 2, 2024.
Hammer, Greg. Personal Interview. August 2, 2024.