Adam Collard says friendships on this year’s Love Island are ‘less authentic’ than previous series (Picture: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Adam Collard has claimed that the friendships between this year’s Love Island contestants are ‘less authentic’ than on previous series as people know ‘what they can achieve’ from the show.

The 27-year-old became the first ever contestant to appear in two series earlier this year when he returned to the villa after originally starring on the reality show in 2018.

But the personal trainer has exclusively told Metro.co.uk that he has noticed a difference in relationships between the stars of this year’s series and the ones he found fame with four years ago.

Discussing who he is still in touch with from the 2022 cast, Adam says: ‘The most contact I’ve had has been with Davide [Sanclimenti] and Luca [Bish] and that’s not really strong, but they are the main two.

‘I think people going in there now – and I’ll hold my hands up, I did this as well – there’s less authentic friendships I would say in the new series,’ he explained.

‘Everyone knows the show is a monster and what they want to achieve from it and stuff like that. The bonds in the earlier series are definitely stronger.

Adam says the stars know ‘what they want to achieve’ from the show (Picture: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

‘I still speak to at least six boys out of that 2018 series and a few of the girls, Samira [Mighty] and Laura Anderson are some of my best friends in terms of girls, completely platonic relationships, as if we were there yesterday, which is crazy because I don’t do that was the one that I was just on.’

Love Island will see a big change in the new year as Maya Jama takes over hosting duties from Laura Whitmore for the show’s ninth series, which will air next month.

And Adam has high hopes for the show’s new presenter: ‘I think she’s going to be awesome,’ he said. ‘We’ve seen her on numerous different things, she just she lights up any camera, she lights up the room. You’ll know that if you’ve ever been around her.

Maya Jama will replace Laura Whitmore as host of the new series, which airs next month (Picture: Nick Harvey/Shutterstock)

‘I haven’t actually ever spoken to her but I’ve been around her at various different events. I think she’s absolutely going to smash it, she’s made for it. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen her tweet and be involved with the show so I’m sure she’ll love it.’

Adam also touched on the low viewership of the last winter series of the show, which aired in January 2020 and was on screens when its original host, Caroline Flack, died at the age of 40.

He said: ‘I think there’s two things. Last time, obviously we know some of the sad stuff that happened around the show and it kind of in my eyes killed the show.

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‘I remember exactly where I was on that day when I found out about it and obviously it’s terrible. Caroline was bigger than the show and all of us combined in terms of following and in terms of fans and stuff like that. It was always going to be a hard situation.

‘But I also think in summer people relate to it. You don’t want to be watching people on the beach when you are sat in the freezing cold, I think it’s just really that simple.’

Love Island returns to ITV2 in 2023.

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‘Everyone knows what they want to achieve from the show’