Y ou can’t swing a cat on winter Love Island without hitting someone related to a famous person. This year, the ITV show has become a halfway house for celebrity offspring, celebrity exes and celebrity half-siblings, and it’s granted it a faint whiff of betrayal.

A few years ago, the closest a Love Island contestant came to fame pre-show was perhaps once being in the same Bridge End nightclub as Spencer Matthews. They felt endearingly, humanly tragic as a result, familiar have-nots on the less fancy side of the velvet rope, all striving for 15 minutes of televised attention.

It made Love Island oddly relatable as a TV experiment, full of people a lot like us, or at least people we went out of our way to avoid in school.

Today, however, they feel parachuted in from modelling agencies, episodes of All Star Family Fortunes, or the lower ends of an ITV publicist’s rolodex. Among this year’s contestants are the sister of television presenter and former pop star Rochelle Humes; a former Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalist who once dated Lewis Capaldi; the brother of a former Apprentice star and, as of this week, the son of a former X Factor contestant.

Few will argue that these are “gets” for the show, but they all share similar TV DNA – fame and ITV talent competitions baked into their fibres, and aware of celebrity and audiences in a way that Love Island alumni from the past weren’t. It’s also more than last year, which already had two fame-adjacent contestants in the form of Tommy Fury, brother of boxer Tyson, and Curtis Pritchard, brother of a Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer.

Winter Love Island 2020: Meet the 12 contestants Show all 11 1 /11 Winter Love Island 2020: Meet the 12 contestants Winter Love Island 2020: Meet the 12 contestants Shaughna Philliips, 25 Shaugna is a democratic services officer from London. She describes herself as "chatty, fun and clever", adding: "When they hear me speak about certain things they'll be shocked. I like to get on with everyone, too." Her celebrity crush is Jack Fincham while her ideal man is "tall, dark and handsome". Winter Love Island 2020: Meet the 12 contestants Sophie Piper, 21 Medical PA Sophie hails from Essex and is excited to spend some time in the villa. Her celebrity crush is Anthony Joshua, she describes herself as "kind, fun and energetic". Winter Love Island 2020: Meet the 12 contestants Leanne Amaning, 22 Leanne is a customer service advisor from London. She describes herself as "fun" and is looking for love, but thinks she'll need to learn to be more open while in the villa. Her celebrity crush is Gerard Butler. Winter Love Island 2020: Meet the 12 contestants Eve and Jess Gale, 20 Eve and Jess are twins currently studying and working as VIP hostesses in London. Both say they're confident and easy-going, and both pick Anthony Joshua as their celebrity crush. Winter Love Island 2020: Meet the 12 contestants Paige Turley, 22 Singer Paige comes from West Lothian and is a "natural flirt". She comes from a small village where everyone knows everyone, so is looking for someone with "a different mentality". Her celebrity crush is Tom Hardy. Winter Love Island 2020: Meet the 12 contestants Siânnise Fudge, 25 Siânnise is a beauty consultant from Bristol who has "quite a lot" of experience with men, and so knows what she's on the look-out for. She describes herself as "sassy and fun", and her celebrity crush is Anthony Joshua or Nineties Leonardo DiCaprio. Winter Love Island 2020: Meet the 12 contestants Connor Durman, 25 Coffee bean salesman Conor comes from Brighton but has been living in Australia for the past four years. He's had two big relationships, "one good, one bad". His celebrity crush is Maya Jama. Winter Love Island 2020: Meet the 12 contestants Mike Boateng, 24 Police officer Mike thinks his charming nature will attract attention in the villa. His mum is hoping he'll meet someone and move out of her house. Celebrity crush? Beyonce and Rihanna. Winter Love Island 2020: Meet the 12 contestants Callum Jones, 23 Callum is a scaffolder from Manchester who claims to have "builders' banter" – whatever that is. He's "a cheeky chap" but down-to-earth as well. His celebrity crush is Megan Fox. Winter Love Island 2020: Meet the 12 contestants Nas Majeed, 23 Sports science graduate and builder Nas claims to be different to the guys who have been on the show before. He describes himself as "funny, caring and considerate – a well-rounded person". His celebrity crush is Aladdin star Naomi Scott. Winter Love Island 2020: Meet the 12 contestants Ollie Williams, 23 Ollie is an estate owner and heir to the Lanhydrock estate in Cornwall. He claims to be an "alpha male" but expects to be "the butt of all jokes". He's a self-confessed attention-seeker who wears his emotions on his sleeve. His celebrity crush is Lily James.

There’s an argument to be made that this is a good thing. Tragedy has enveloped Love Island in recent years, with ITV condemned for poor after-care for the show’s contestants, and two former cast members taking their lives. That the channel’s pledge to improve its post-show support has coincided with the casting of people already in the celebrity sphere could very well be deliberate. The alternative, in which entirely ordinary people are suddenly thrust into a space where they are judged and ridiculed by millions, feels far crueller.

Love Island: Connor apologises to Sophie after her date with 'Anthony Joshua lookalike'

But it has sucked a lot of the spontaneity out of the show. In Love Islands past, there was a certain genius to casting a former member of Blazin’ Squad on the show – a bit of personal trivia so wacky and unexpected that it became a fantastic running joke.

Even the casting of Dani Dyer, daughter of Danny Dyer, in the 2018 series felt just ludicrous enough to work, helped by her earnest warmth. “My sister used to be in The Saturdays” doesn’t have much the same ring to it.