‘Love Island' fans will devour this fictional take on fame-hungry contestants losing their humanity
We love watching people ruin their lives on television, while wanting to buy what the contestants are wearing and own the same make-up products.
These are two of the themes tackled in Leitrim author Aisling Rawle's sharp debut novel, a riff on reality television show Love Island which is currently gracing our screens. Then again, after reading her carefully constructed story in, we know that everything is calculated and very few things accidental.
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RTÉ News
43 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
Live, Forever: Why bands are reuniting early and often
It's less than two weeks until the Gallagher brothers take to the Croke Park stage as part of the Irish leg of their long-awaited reunion tour – but they're not the only ones on the comeback trail. In the past three years alone we've had Pulp and Blur reunite, as well as Sugababes, JLS, S Club, Blink 182, Busted, My Chemical Romance and Five – which have two shows coming up in the 3Arena later this year. Obviously, reunion tours are nothing new – they've been a feature of the live music scene in one way or another for decades. But the nature – and frequency – of the reunion gig has changed dramatically in a short space of time. In the past a group might have hit the road again as a last hurrah – looking to take the opportunity to pad out the pension fund while they were still able to manage a gruelling tour schedule. And they were less common, too, or incomplete due to band members opting out or passing away before they reached 'farewell tour' age. Nowadays, though, groups seem to be reuniting at a much earlier age. And, far from being seen as a cynical cash-grab, audiences are crying out for a chance to see these comeback kids. Why is this happening? It goes without saying that the artists are, first and foremost, getting back together for the love of the music… their art is what motivates them more than anything else. But it's not being too cynical to point out that there's also an often significant financial incentive to them hitting the road at an earlier stage in their band history. To better explain that, it's worth going back a few decades – and looking at how bands and musicians would have made their money in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Back then making money in the industry was really all about the physical music – single and album sales where what you were trying to drum up. The tour was maybe an add-on – but it wasn't the main event. In fact some cases artists would have made little or no money from their tour, but did so because gigging was a good way to drum up physical sales. The beauty in this model was that, even if you were a band who fizzled out after the first few albums – or gave up touring altogether, you would probably continue to enjoy decent revenues from sales well in to the future. Because you would have new generations of audiences finding your albums years later, And if you needed to boost your bank balance a little you could always push out a special edition, or a 10th or 20th anniversary collectable with a crappy demo bonus track added on, which would sell well on reputation alone. But of course that's all changed now thanks to streaming. Most people don't spend very much money on physical music nowadays. And of the money they do spend on accessing recorded music, very little of it makes its way to the artists. Even acts that are drumming up millions of streams are getting really paltry sums of money from Spotify and Apple Music. That means that touring – as well as merchandise - is now where you go if you want to have any hope of making money as an artist. A report by the Irish Music Rights Organisation last month said that the music industry contributes €1 billion to the Irish economy each year - and €786m of that comes from live events (though it's worth nothing that that spend would include what gig-goers drop on travel, accommodation, food and drink and possibly merch too). The report said consumers spend an average of 1,000 a year on music – and €757 of that goes towards live music. So you can take from that that the vast majority of money that's up for grabs for artists is available to them on the road. And people having money to spend is an important factor in all of this. Because the people who were listening to Five or the Sugababes or My Chemical Romance as tweens and teens are now maybe in their 30s – and there's a good chance they have a bit more disposable income now than they did the first time around. They will be far more willing, and able, to spend a few hundred euro on gigs each year. That means the acts that were popular with young people in the 1990s and 2000s have an opportunity to cash in on that fanbase in a way that wasn't possible when they were at the peak of their popularity. It's suddenly much easier for them to convince their fans to pay through the nose for concert tickets, and still pay €50 for a t-shirt or a poster while they're there. So in a lot of ways the economics of music have been flipped – bands used to tour to promote an album, now they might put out an album to drum up hype for a tour. Although in a lot of cases these reunited bands don't even put new music out... True; and Oasis is the perfect example of that. There's been absolutely no suggestion that they're going to go back into the studio, and it's fair to say that the fans don't care about that. All they want is for the band to finish the tour that they've announced – and ideally add a few more dates on down the line. Now maybe that's because the latter part of Oasis' back catalogue wasn't exactly their best work (those who disagree just need to look at the setlist for the reunion tour to see that Noel and Liam feel the same). However the fact that there's little demand for new music also points to some of the other reasons why these kinds of reunion tours are in such strong demand at the moment. Specifically in the case of Oasis, there's obviously a supply and demand factor. People haven't been able to see them play live together in at least 16 years, so there's a massive pent up demand. Had they stayed on good terms through the years and done a tour every year or two, they might not have seen such a clamour for tickets this time around. That being said, acts like Five, Pulp and Blur have done reunion tours before and are still seeing demand this time around - so having a keen audience is not just about laying low for a few years and then coming back. So what's creating such strong demand for these reunions? The pandemic can take part of the blame – it really super-charged people's FOMO, because people missed out really on a couple of years of gig-going. And now they want to make up for lost time, and mark some acts off their bucket lists. Perhaps another factor is the fact that we're living in a more nostalgic time than has ever been the case before – in part because streaming TV and music has put so much older content at our fingertips. Our smartphones are also, constantly generating photo albums of things we did just a few years ago – which encourages us to get wistful about our younger days which – in turn – makes us pine for the music we listened to at the time. At the same time that instant access to older content has made it much easier for younger people to discover and create a love for music that they were maybe a little bit too young for the first time around. There will no doubt be plenty of people in their late teens and early 20s at the Oasis concerts this month – alongside those who were grown-ups when they first heard Wonderwall. (In fact the demand for tickets from newer fans did spark a brief, nasty debate online which saw some older fans argue that they deserved tickets more than the newcomers (and, particularly, the younger women who wanted to go). So just how lucrative are these kinds of reunion tours? Well it obviously all depends – and there are a lot of factors at play. But it's likely that Oasis will be behind the year's biggest reunion, in financial terms if nothing else. It's estimated that they could be looking at revenues of more than €460m for their current tour – even assuming it is not extended beyond its current 41 date run. Now that is revenue for the whole tour –from that they'll need to cover a lot of costs including venue hire, staging, crewing, transport and so on. However it seems as though there will still be plenty left for the talent when all the bills are covered. The reports are that each of the Gallagher brothers could be walking away with upwards of €50m each – with even more potential income from merch and the inevitable boost to album sales/streams. For other bands it's probably not quite as lucrative – but all the same you'd imagine they could be building up a decent sum of money for themselves To take the example of Five– while they're not playing the same sized venues as Oasis, they are doing 25 nights in venues that are in the 10,000 to 15,000 seater range. Many of those nights are already sold out – or close to being sold out. So even if it's not tens of millions each, you would imagine there is a significant amount of money being generated for the group from their tour.
The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
Love Island fans figure out when villa divide happened as they reveal exact moment the girls turned on each other
LOVE Island fans think they have figured out exactly when the villa divide came to fruition. Loyal ITV2 viewers took to social media as they revealed the exact moment the girls started to turn on each other. 7 Viewers think they have cracked the code behind the issue of the girl group divide in the villa Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 7 Fans think the feud started all the way back in episode two of the 2025 series Credit: Shutterstock Editorial In recent scenes on the long-running dating show, we saw the departure of Helena Ford and Blu Chegini. Conor Phillips and Megan Forte-Clarke were also dumped from Love Island, just days before the grand finale. This may have signalled the end of the highly-publicised villa divide between the girls. Millions of viewers have watched the likes of Toni Laites and Shakira Khan clash with Helena and Meg Moore. Things got especially heated when Harry Cooksley's head was turned back to Shakira after he made his partnership with Helena 'exclusive'. But one viewer noticed that the divide came about a long time before the infamous Grafties ceremony. On fan forum platform Reddit, one informed fan noticed that the girls were splitting in the villa all the way back in episode two of the 2025 series. A throwback clip posted on the platform, in a thread titled 'Episode 2- the start of the divide'. In the video, Shakira made a new best friend in Toni after her bombshell arrival and the duo gossiped together by the firepit. This was as Alima Gagigo, Sophie Lee, Megan, Helena, and Meg were all sitting together in a separate part of the villa. Watch as girls go head-to-head in furious Love Island clash and vow NEVER to speak outside the villa Shakira told the Las Vegas cabana server that she felt like she was judged from the rest of the girls for chatting with so many of the boys so early on. She remarked: "I'm not joking, getting ready then the vibes felt so off. "So it's not enough to like pick up on and say something about because it's nothing that is being said, but it's the energy. Toni replied: "You know everyone is interested in you." Then Shakira stated: "I've been grafting, but I feel like the girls don't appreciate that. "But equally what's stopping them from doing the same thing? We've all been here [only] a day. She added: "Like, I think I have a right to get to know everybody." Meanwhile in the separate sofa area, Meg remarked: "The problem is, thinking of what Maya said last night, I think it is in Shakira's court. It's not enough to like pick up on and say something about because it's nothing that is being said, but it's the energy Skaira Khan "That's why she's been grafting her f****** a*** off today." To which Helena sarcastically responded: "I think she fancies everyone doesn't she?" She jokingly added: "She probably fancies the plants!" Captioning the preview, the fan wrote: "Is this when the 'bullying' started? LOVE ISLAND 2025 - ALL the dumped stars so far LOVE Island 2025 is in its penultimate week. Here are all the dumped Islanders so far ... Sophie Lee Blu Chegini (has since returned) Malisha Jordan Will Means Shea Mannings Poppy Harrison Caprice Alexandra Megan Clarke (has since returned) Remell Mullins Ryan Bannister Alima Gagigo Martin Enitan Chris Middleton Yas Broom Rheo Parnel Giorgio Russo Emily Moran Andrada Pop Ben Holbrough Tommy Bradley Lucy Quinn Lauren Wood Harrison Solomon (quit) Emma Munro Boris Vidovic Billykiss Azeez Blu Chegini (dumped again) Helena Ford Megan Clarke (dumped again) Conor Phillips "This was only episode two and watch how they treat Shakira." In the captions below, fans seemed to concur that this was the moment the villa divide started. One fan posted: "Yep the twist of Shakira being single and having to graft the boys to stay def started the divide." While a second added: "I'm no Shakira-Harry fan, but as a guy, it always came across to me that jealousy was a primary motivator in those in the villa that disliked her." 7 As the girls all sat together, Shakira and Toni chatted by the fire pit Credit: ITV2 7 Shakira said the vibe between all the girls was 'off' Credit: ITV2 7 Helena made a cutting remark about Shakira in the second episode Credit: ITV2 7 Megan Forte Clarke giggled away as Helena and Meg both gave their opinions Credit: ITV2 7 Toni seemed to pick up on the energy after Shakira made her remarks Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Love Island continues on ITV2 and is available to stream on ITVX.
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
CGD agents breaks silence on ‘romance' with Olivia Hawkins and Louis Russell after stars spotted kissing on away trip
THE CELEBS Go Dating agents have broken their silence on Olivia Hawkins and Louis Russell breaking the reality show's rules. Love Island star Olivia, 30, and Too Hot To Handle's Louis, 24, hit it off after landing in Ibiza to film the E4 show and were spotted snogging poolside. 5 Celebs Go Dating's Olivia Hawkins and Louis Russell broke show rules Credit: ©Nic Serpell-Rand 2024 5 Olivia and Louis naturally gravitated towards each other after the first mixer Credit: ©Nic Serpell-Rand 2024 5 Paul C. Brunson admitted Olivia's biggest dating dilemma was her 'self worth' Credit: Nic Serpell-Rand / Channel 4 In an exclusive interview, love gurus Anna Williamson, Paul C. Brunson and Dr Tara revealed what really happened between Olivia and Louis when The Sun visited the Celebs Go Dating agency ahead of the new series. Anna said: "I mean celebrity on celebrity, every series there's always a few cross eyes, aren't there?" As it stands, it is very much a dot dot dot." The agents admitted Olivia and Louis naturally gravitated towards each other after the first mixer. "Every time we're in a big mixer, it's always interesting to see how the celebrities start to bond and it's always interesting that this is a show which is very exposing - they come in and they're full of nerves naturally and what happens when that happens? You tend to gravitate to people that are in your proximity, so it's not unusual of course, I think celebs like to stick together," Anna revealed. "Sometimes we see looks here and there, but whether they turn into anything... is really time will tell." In the past, hook-ups between co-stars were frowned upon, but now the experts embrace it if there's a chance it can lead to a genuine connection. Anna continued: "This is real life as well, it's something we don't necessarily advocate but then again it's real life and the celebrities know that if there's a genuine attraction - if it's just a safety, we'll notice it and call it out. "But we'll always observe from the sidelines and if anything feels like it needs jumping in on, then we will." While Paul agreed and said there is a deeper psychology behind why celebrities form romantic connections on the show. Paul shared: "I think an important note on this, is that we typically do what we feel is safe and low risk but it's not always the best thing for us. Inside the Celebs Go Dating house with Anna Williamson and Dr. Tara ahead of the new series "You'll see that celebrities have this repetition of doing what is safe and that is ending up matching or thinking they are going to match together, because it is very safe, of course you're going to see it. "They're two very compelling people individually. Sex and relationship expert Dr Tara insisted the point of the show is to encourage the celebrities to step outside their comfort zone. She said: "It's Celebrity Dating Agency, not Celebrity Dating each other agency, so we always try to encourage them to explore and expand and learn new things and learn about new people and not just stay within a comfort zone, we give them a big push to try new things." Olivia, who appeared on Love Island in 2023, before returning for the All Stars series in 2025, was unlucky-in-love both times. The brunette beauty said fellas never ask her out after she was first painted as a troublemaker in the villa. In fact, the beauty, who has been an actress and a ring girl, claims she has never had a proper 'boyfriend', in a recent interview with The Sun. Paul admitted the Liv's biggest dating dilemma was her "self worth". He said they welcomed every celebrity to the agency with a "clean slate", despite public perceptions. Paul said: "I think there's an assumption that we identify with the publics perception of the celebrity. "I think it's an important point to note, that typically we're unaware of that public perception and we try to give everyone a clean slate, whether we're familiar with them or not. "The idea is that you come in and you start fresh with us. That allows us to prejudge or place inappropriate values in certain areas. "Liv is that exact person, she came in clean slate." Olivia and Louis had swapped flirty messages on social media ahead of the trip and later were seen kissing by a pool, with an insider said the sexual chemistry was very obvious. LOUIS NEW GIRL Despite hopes of a romance between Louis and Olivia, just days ago he stepped out with his famous new girlfriend. Louis posed on the red carpet holding hands with Love Island US star Huda Mustafa as they attended a film premiere in Los Angeles. Only a few days ago, the pair were spotted in London together just days after the Love Island US star left the villa. Huda made waves during this years Love Island USA when she revealed to the cast she was a mum and became one of the shows most followed islanders. The new series kicks off on August 11th at 9pm and it will include TV personality Kerry Katona, Love Island's Olivia Hawkins, comedian and CBB star Donna Preston, and Too Hot To Handle's Louis Russell giving it their best shot at the dating agency. And things between Louis and Olivia quickly get steamy. A show insider revealed: 'It usually takes a few weeks for things to spice up but not with these two. 'Within 48 hours of arriving in Ibiza the sexual spark between them was obvious. "They clearly couldn't resist each other.' Watch Celebs Go Dating on E4, or stream on Channel 4 from Monday 11 August, 9pm. Celebs Go Dating 2025 cast S Club 7 singer Jon Lee The Chase quizzer Mark Labbett Too Hot To Handle hunk Louis Russell Love Island All Stars contestant, Olivia Hawkins Singer Kerry Katona Made in Chelsea heartthrob Sam Prince QUIT - Christine McGuinness 5 Dr Tara insisted the show is to encourage the celebs to step outside their comfort zone Credit: Instagram
