Dr Alex George: 5 things you might not know about Love Island in the final week

Dr Alex George was a contestant on the 2018 series of Love Island. As the final of this year's series approaches, he reveals five things you might not know about the show and its final week.

1. The Lie Detector isn't always accurate

It is for the best they are not doing the lie detector test this year because they simply don’t work. I don’t think it was accurate. Some of the things they said were true and false didn’t match up with what we felt was happening on the inside.

I can’t remember what it was but I answered a question truthfully and it said it was false. The more you protest, the more everyone thinks you’re definitely lying. Detectors which measure pulse or respiratory rate aren’t that accurate quite frankly.

2. Islanders are asked what they’d like to do on their final dates

The producers asked us what we wanted to do on our final date and what kind of things interest us.

Not all of them do but I think most try to gather a little bit of information about what the islanders like and they always try to make the date apply to one of the islanders in the couple.

For example last year Dani had always wanted to do a balloon ride and I got to drive on my date because I love cars.

3. The show is around three days behind in the final week

When I left in the episode before the final last year, I was put into a holding villa for 48 hours because there was a gap between the show when I left and the final.

I think they are at least three days ahead at this point in the series. For example, this year, because the final is on the Monday night, the Sunday this week and the Monday morning will be absolutely nothing days for the islanders.

• Love Island 2019 final: Dr Alex's couple-by-couple guide

4. Contestants have no contact with the outside world in the holding villa when dumped in the final week

The holding villa I was in for 48 hours was very much an interim. We had a chaperone and could watch loads of movies but there was no TV, internet, phone, social media or newspaper.

You are still cut off from the outside world. You cannot ask how many followers you now have, what your mum has said. Even though you are out of the villa, it’s exactly the same terms and conditions in there.

5. Producers provide a shoulder to cry on

There’s a villa producer who is on for 12 hours and then there’s an overnight one. They are your main point of contact. They ask who is chatting to who, what you are thinking and will pull people out of the villa to see what is going on.

They understand really. A lot of things happen and they want to know what you are thinking. It’s a lot more about following the stories. In the final week you don’t feel like they’re trying to break your relationship up anymore. There’ll be no more bombshells and it’s all about reflecting on your relationship.

During the series, of course if you say you fancy someone they will tell you to go and speak to her, they’ll encourage you a bit. If you are having a bad day, they’re there to be your shoulder to cry on and they support you. The lows are low in there and some days are really hard.

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport

Like us on Facebook RacingPostSport