TikTok farmer and incoming Love Island contestant Will Young has said meeting a girl in the villa who is vegan would not be a “deal breaker”.
The 23-year-old, who has racked up 1.1 million TikTok followers posting farming videos, is one of 10 islanders preparing to enter the villa in South Africa for the new winter series of the ITV2 reality show.
Ahead of the series beginning on January 16, Will, from Buckinghamshire, said that finding a girl who is interested in farming “isn’t a deal breaker but if she wants to come out and get involved, then that’s a bonus isn’t it”.
He added that having a vegetarian or vegan girlfriend would also not be a deal breaker and revealed “I went pescatarian for a while for a girl”, but began eating meat again “literally the day after” the relationship ended.
Will said he hopes the show will give him the opportunity to “separate the farm and have that period of time where I haven’t got to worry about the lambs and haven’t got to worry about work”, and reflected on whether his TikTok fame has helped him prepare for potential negativity or online hate which may come from appearing on Love Island.
“I’m a strong believer in that you can’t please everyone,” he said.
“And everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and everyone is going to have their own opinion, and you’ve just got to try and block it out almost.
“As long as you believe in yourself and believe what you’re doing is right, I think you’ll be OK.”
Will also revealed what he will miss most while he is in the villa, admitting it will probably be his two pet pigs.
He said: “The thing I think I’ll miss the most is every morning when I go to feed them, because I’ve got a pen at the bottom of the garden, they sit their little noses on the rails and kind of rest there until I go over and feed them and starting my morning every day doing that is really, really nice.
“So it would be the pigs, the alpacas, the sheep, the dogs and then the family!”
Fellow islander Anna-May Robey, a 20-year-old payroll administrator from Swansea, revealed that she has some unusual interests and unique ideas for a first date.
After admitting she would love to visit Alcatraz, she said her dream date would be “anything to do with prisons. Anything quite interesting. I quite like museums”.
Noting that the famous Robben Island – known for housing political prisoners such as Nelson Mandela – is in South Africa, Anna-May suggested the producers could send her there on a date with one of the male contestants.
“I’m just here for Love Island, but maybe they could send me on a date there,” she said.
Anna-May added: “We never know… Some things can be quite unexpected.”
The new islanders are set to enter the Love Island villa in South Africa on January 16 as new host Maya Jama takes over from Laura Whitmore, who announced she was stepping down in August.
The new series is the show’s first winter series since before the coronavirus pandemic.
New additions also include Made In Chelsea star Sam Thompson and Indiyah Polack, who was a finalist on the show last year, who are joining as regular panellists on Love Island’s Aftersun programme.
Love Island returns on Monday at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.