Once again, our favourite villa is back with more love, abs and Botox than ever before. The infamous Islander body has taken Instagram by storm – and I for one, am sick of it.

Don’t get me wrong, if I was on a reality TV show for six weeks I would be signing up for those double Ds and luscious locks immediately. Heck, I would be training for six hours a day just to find out where my abs are supposed to be.

It is disturbing that we have to undergo several procedures and pay thousands of pounds in order to be 'beautiful'. And what’s worse is, most people deny doing it.

Millennials threw out the ultra slim bikini body years ago. Insta-influencers across the globe preached about how you shouldn’t have to be a size 6 to wear a bikini. Weight Watchers changed to WW and fitness trainers stopped calling their programs “get bikini body ready.” #Bodyconfidence continues to trend on social media. But where is the confidence and self-esteem in dramatically changing your body?

Megan Barton Hanson is the ultimate poster girl for the Love Island face. She had her first procedure at just 17 and has now spent a whopping £40,000 on treatments. If looking beautiful on Instagram comes with the cost of £40k and countless surgical treatments, I think I’ll pass.

Dr Jane Leonard, a GP and aesthetic doctor, spoke to Grazia about the abundance of ‘cosmetic tweakment.’ From nose jobs, cheek fillers to jaw line adjustments, clients are asking for the pouting cheekbones just like the girls from Love Island.

We exchanged extreme fitness regimes, eating disorders and weight loss pills for irreversible surgical procedures. Young girls are receiving breast enhancements before they finish puberty. Guys are taking steroids to build a six pack that doesn’t look natural. We are permanently altering our natural bodies to look like an Islander.

At some point, we stopped altering our wardrobes and started changing our body shape. But what happens when this body ideal changes? Will people start reversing the procedures through more surgeries? The Islander body is problematic to say the least.

Women and men, both in and out of the Island, have denied their hand in plastic surgery. Often, people are consumed with the shame of paying to look a certain way and how their before photos compare to the after. The denial of plastic surgery is where it becomes dangerous for the younger generation.

Girls and boys worldwide watch celebs on social media and strive to meet that level of beauty. But here’s the thing: many of those people have had procedures done and denied it. We grow up thinking we are ugly because we cannot naturally meet those body expectations.

Although, our outspoken Queen of Winter Love Island, Shaughna Phillips has openly spoken out about her procedures. She does not claim to be all natural. In fact, when asked about her lips, in her introductory VT, she said: “I’ve spent enough money on them!”

All hail, Queen Shaughna.

Being open about plastic surgery is absolutely paramount. It’s time we dismantled the unrealistic beauty ideals broadcasted on Love Island and the rest of social media.

Get your lips done and speak out about it. Clip in your hair extensions and ask yourself why you need thicker hair to be beautiful. Question the procedures you think you need, and accept your natural self instead.

Tagged in