A new study, by TV and tech retailer Currys, analysed potential earnings of popular dating TV show contestants, with Love Island UK taking the lead.
The most profitable dating show was picked out based on the average contestant following, using figures from Influencer Marketing Hub including a base 3% engagement rate. Love Island UK came out on top as the most lucrative show, with the average contestant amassing an Instagram following of 1.24 million and an earning potential of £2,528 per post.
These are obviously just estimates as the Telegraph recently reported that Molly-Mae Hague has made over £6 million from social media since her stint in the Villa.
Love Island UK was recently crowned as the biggest reality show of the past decade, since 2017 it has been streamed two billion times and this summer’s series of has been streamed 137million times on ITVX, which is more than the Euros football tournament at 132million.
The next reality show with high earnings potential is Too Hot to Handle. The reality show where you must withhold yourself from any physical contact to win. With the average contestant boasting 1.12 million followers, there’s a potential earning of £2,279 per post.
The third most lucrative show, in terms of earning potential, is also the one with the worst chances of finding love, Ex on the Beach UK. On average, a contestant from the show has 1 million followers, translating to a potential earning of £2,120 per post.
| TV show | Average contestant following | Engagement rate (3%) | Potential earning per post average ($) | Potential earning per post average (£) |
| Love Island UK | 1,237,783 | 37,133 | $3,283 | £2,528 |
| Too Hot to Handle | 1,116,044 | 33,481 | $2,960 | £2,279 |
| Ex on the Beach UK | 1,037,958 | 31,139 | $2,753 | £2,120 |
| Love is Blind US | 679,033 | 20,371 | $2,703 | £2,081 |
| Love Island USA | 238,537 | 7,156 | $953 | £733 |
| Married at First Sight Australia | 136,701 | 4,101 | $548 | £422 |
| Married at First Sight UK | 115,067 | 3,452 | $462 | £355 |
| Love is Blind UK | 107,243 | 3,217 | $430 | £331 |
Doing it for love? Love is Blind is your TV show
The study also analysed the relationship statuses of 210 couples from seven popular dating TV shows to determine which show is best for finding love.
Factors such as the percentage of couples still together, the percentage of married contestants, and the number of children were looked at to determine the dating show with the highest success rate. From the shows looked at, Love is Blind emerged as the most successful, with data revealing that at least one in three couples analysed from the shows are still together.
The odds go more in favour of the original Love is Blind in the US, where the success rate is 33%, compared to the UK version with a slightly lower rate of 29%. However, the UK version is only on its first season, compared to 6 seasons of the US version.
The third most successful show in the study was Married at First Sight UK, with an 11% success rate. Two, out of the 18 couples analysed (in seasons 6 and 7) are still together, but only one couple remains actually married.
Both versions of Love Island, UK and US, share the same success rate of 10%, with one in ten couples from the show still together.
Looking across all the dating shows analysed, only 25 out of 210 couples who were together at the show’s conclusion are still together today, giving an overall success rate of 12% for finding true love through reality TV.
The percentage drops even further to 8% when focusing on couples who are married, with only 16 out of 210 TV couples ending up in wedlock.
Ex on the Beach – lowest chances to meet the one
Ex on the Beach holds the title for the worst chances of finding love, with only one out of 24 couples analysed (4%) staying together after meeting on the drama-fuelled tropical getaway.
Another TV show with a low success rate is Too Hot to Handle, where only one out of 19 couples (5%) are still together.