They were nearly Islanders years ago… now they’re central to the villa! Two Love Island 2025 cast members reveal they secretly applied for previous seasons but didn’t make the cut — until now - suong

It turns out two of the Love Island 2025 cast members applied for different years of the series, but previously didn’t manage to get on. Yes, they’ve been trying to crack the Love Island world for literally years!

Speaking to The Tab ahead of the show, the original Islanders spilled more about what the application process was like for them. And it turns out, a couple have been trying to get on the show for ages.

Who are the two Love Island 2025 cast members who applied for the show years ago?

via ITV

Two original cast members were nearly part of different series of the show, and they have both gone on to be pretty vital parts of the villa this year. One was meant to be on the show years ago, and another was basically ready to enter the villa last year, but it fell through.

Harry Cooksley has been a key part of Love Island 2025, but he was nearly part of a different set of Islanders! “I was going to go on [the show] a few years ago but it wasn’t the right time for me,” he told The Tab. “So I reapplied this year.” When asked why this year was the right time for him, he said he’s “30 now” so has a lot of friends who are settling down. “It felt like now or never,” Harry said.

We also very nearly didn’t have Meg and Dejon, as Meg was meant to be on the show last year. She got all the way to the end of the casting for Love Island 2024, before changing her mind.

“I was in the lineup for last year but never went on,” she told The Tab. “I applied, did some Zoom calls, went to London and did casting. It got to the point where we thought I wouldn’t fit in. It all happened really quickly. [The show] came around again this year, and I said to myself, ‘Meg you should do it now’.”

How different things could have been!