Any Love Island loyalist will know that season 11 is now well and truly underway, with a new batch of brave singles looking for love (or let's face it, a summer fling - and Instagram followers) in the iconic Mallorca villa.
The juggernaut British series has long fascinated viewers, with questions about how the cast live over the eight-week period continually permeating contestants' social media. What do they eat? Are they allowed to drink alcohol? Do they have sex? And of course, what happens if you're a smoker?
We don't have all the answers, but we can shed some light on the stipulations for puffing participants. According to reports, there are strict rules around smoking and vaping, including that Islanders must disclose their habit before entering the villa.
There is a designated smoking area outside the villa, where only one contestant can smoke at a time. Lighters, vapes and cigarettes are only allowed in this particular area and cannot be brought inside the property - unlike in the earlier, rowdier seasons where smoking was shown on-screen.
Previous contestants have also revealed that smokers are given a daily cigarette allowance. It's believed Islanders are currently allowed up to 10, but the earlier seasons permitted up to 20. Vapers, meanwhile, are given one.
The rule that only one contestant can smoke or vape at a time is reportedly in place to prevent the cast from having important conversations or group discussions away from the cameras.
In 2017, more than half of the complaints to Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, were related to the Islanders' smoking, with one study finding a cigarette appeared on-screen every five minutes on average. Following the influx of complaints, network ITV banned smoking in the villa and on the grounds in 2018, with the habit no longer shown on camera.
Meanwhile, past participants have also offered some insight into the show's rules and regulations. In a video on TikTok, season five cast member Amy Hart confirmed that smokers were allowed up to 10 cigarettes a day and had to smoke alone in a monitored area outside the villa. Season nine's Olivia Hawkins and Maxwell Samuda also said that contestants could only smoke if they had previously disclosed the habit; those who hadn't weren't permitted to.
In an interview earlier this year, Love Island All-Stars' Hannah Elizabeth and Liberty Poole revealed that many Islanders vaped and often argued over who could use the smoking area first, prompting people to "push in".
"That queue was dramas - people pushing in, Anton [Danyluk] used to push in the front, they'd all be arguing, like, 'Who's next in the queue?' It was a constant battle," Elizabeth said to KISS Fresh.
"You were only allowed out one at a time to vape - imagine with the drama and stuff, everyone's wanting to get out."
And during an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session on Reddit, season four's Laura Anderson said the cigarette allowance was a hard-and-fast rule, noting: "When you finish, that's it."
