Love Island legend Alex Bowen reveals why he finds it hard to rewatch his old episodes

The former Islanders have been married for almost seven years, have built a property empire named The Bowen Homes Ltd and previously ran a clothing brand named Exempt Society. Alex describes the decision to go on Love Island as “the best decision I’ve ever made”.

His story began while he was working as a scaffolder. On a rainy day, he received a text message while covered in mud offering him a place on the second season of Love Island – his boss said his job would be waiting for him if he wanted it, so off he went. And the rest is reality TV history.

So what’s the secret to going the distance as a Love Island couple? “You just have to work for everything, you know. Nothing good comes easy,” Alex tells Radio Times exclusively.

Entering the villa as a bombshell, Alex’s mission was to make waves, but he can still remember the first time he saw Olivia – and it’s kind of X-rated. “When I walked into the villa, they were all in bed, and the curtains opened and there was Liv’s bum,” he laughs. “And I thought, ‘That’s quite nice.’”

He recalls that the intensity of the bonds you build with fellow Islanders in the villa is difficult to explain to someone who hasn’t experienced it.

“There are no clocks on the walls,” he says. “You’re in a mad bubble so you're forced to talk to each other. The conversations that you'd probably have six months down the line you're having two days in. It’s a very weird thing.”

By the day of the final, Alex knew how he felt about Olivia. Unfortunately, his attempt at declaring his love didn’t go smoothly.

“I knew I loved her, so I said it, but she didn’t hear me!” he remembers. “We were just getting ready to go live, and I said, ‘I love you’ and gave her a cuddle, and she was like 'What?' Then two weeks later she told me she loved me and I let her think she said it first for a while.”

He also remembers that he was so disconnected from the fact he could actually win the show, he didn’t pack a suit for the final, so the production team had to run out and get him one.

Alex describes the difficult days after leaving the villa, with the public rooting against him and Olivia. “Towards the end of the series, they really came for me and Olivia,” he says. “When we left the villa, the public thought I was just gonna get rid of Olivia as soon as we came out. We proved people wrong. Me and Liv, we’re not quitters. We have arguments, we bicker. I’m quite annoying as I’m still a bit of a child.”

He also points out that you don’t see Love Islanders’ total personality when you’re watching them on screen – everyone plays a role, or fits into a certain archetype, including him.

“Entering the villa as a bombshell, I was shown as the one that messes things up at first and then finds love,” he explains. “But they never showed me messing around, throwing grapes at people having chats, just being stupid. Everyone's shown as one thing, but people have different sides to their personality.”

Within six months of leaving the villa, Alex had proposed to Olivia on New Year’s Eve in New York. He reflects on the stress of getting the engagement ring through security, and was almost caught out, but the stress was worth it.

He admits that he finds watching the season that he and Olivia met on difficult to revisit, even though it was a huge part of the foundation of their relationship.

“I've watched clips,” Alex says. “It's weird, because Liv and I lived it. We had arguments, and I don't really want to relive that. That was a time in our life that shaped who we are as a couple. Maybe when I'm older!”

The huge impact of social media in 2025 in comparison to 2016 and the trolling and 'cancel culture' that comes with it is a huge difference between Alex’s experience of Love Island and those entering the villa now.

“I watch the show now, and I don’t think they’ve got it harder, but you can say the wrong thing and you can get crucified for it,” Alex reflects. “We can all say the wrong thing – social media just jumps on you right away. Everyone just wants to kick each other while they’re down.

“But at the end of the day, you go on there, you’re putting yourself out there, it’s your choice.”

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As the show has become more mainstream, it’s been suggested that contestants aren’t primarily entering the villa for love, but for fame and money. For Alex, he can understand that appeal – but maintains Islanders are still looking for a happy ending in their romantic life.

“People go on there to find love, that's the whole point of it,” he says. “But with a lot of shows right now, people want to better their life and their career, to make a change. They don't want to be stuck in the job they're in. I can appreciate that as well.”

He reflects on the increased influence of social media since he left the show, and how grateful he was to have Olivia by his side as they navigated the post-villa madness. On the day of the final, he gained 250,000 Instagram followers.

“When we came out, I just felt very lucky to have someone in it with me,” he says. “I was told that I had six months to do well, before the cast for the next series was announced. We didn’t know what we were doing, we didn’t have a plan. Social media wasn’t how it is now, so we just went with the flow.”

Now, with a second child on the way – they welcomed their son Abel back in 2022 – the question is, when do you tell your children you met on Love Island? And do you let them watch the show?

“I'm not going to let them watch until they're a certain age,” Alex says. “We might never have to bring it up... unless they ask how we met!"

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The Love Island finale airs on Monday 4 August at 9pm on ITV2.

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