Love Island star Shakira Khan has revealed a long-kept production detail from inside the villa: a designated “vape box” where Islanders’ devices are stored out of sight from cameras.
The 22-year-old finalist shared the information during an Instagram Q&A, when a fan asked about her favourite moment from the show. Shakira launched into an anecdote about breaking the villa’s original vape box with fellow contestant Toni Laites.
“Right this is really stupid,” she said, explaining that the incident happened after the now-infamous superman challenge. “Everyone was mad, we were all fuming after this challenge. So they keep boys and girls separate and we’re outside and there’s a vape box. Like a polystyrene box everyone’s vape’s in.”
Shakira said Toni sat on the box while pulling a face, prompting Shakira to try cheering her up. What followed was accidental slapstick.
“I pretended to climb onto Toni’s back before she pulled me onto her lap. No one else was laughing.. The crew were like taking photos of the smashed box and had to get a more secure box after.”
Shakira and partner Harry Cooksley finished second on the 2025 series, narrowly missing out to Toni and her partner Cach Mercer. The couple have stayed together since leaving the show and recently confirmed they are moving in together. Asked on Instagram whether cohabitation was on the cards, Shakira simply shared a smiling photo and the word “yez.”
A rare glimpse into Love Island’s vaping rules
Shakira’s “vape box” revelation sheds light on a system that viewers never see. Since 2018, smoking and vaping have been banned on-screen following years of complaints about tobacco imagery and concerns that the show risked glamorising smoking.
Islanders must now leave the villa individually if they want to vape, and production ensures the moments are not captured on camera.
Earlier this year, former All Stars contestants Olivia Hawkins and Marcel Sommerville described how widespread vaping is among Islanders – but emphasised that there are strict controls.
In an interview with Kiss Fresh, Olivia said: “I think everyone vapes, pretty much everyone. Apart from Ekin-Su.” Marcel added: “Everyone apart from Olivia had a vape.”
Both said the rules prohibit contestants from starting smoking or vaping in the villa. If it’s not declared before filming, production will not supply a device – even in stressful moments.
Olivia explained: “If you don’t declare it beforehand, you will not be allowed a vape.. because it will seem like you’ve taken up vaping from the show.” Marcel suggested many contestants pre-declare simply to secure brief moments of quiet outside the villa: “I feel like everyone said that they vaped just so they could have five minutes out.. to detox and head back into the madness.”
Far from Love Island’s early smoking era
The strict approach contrasts sharply with the early years after the show’s 2015 relaunch, when cigarettes frequently appeared on screen and major plotlines unfolded in the smoking area.
Researchers later found that tobacco imagery occurred in 20 per cent of broadcast minutes during one season – prompting concerns that the programme may have encouraged young viewers to start smoking.
More than half of all Ofcom complaints about Love Island that summer were about smoking. Assistant Commissioner Paul Mortimer later said the smoking scenes made cigarettes appear glamorous in a “very sexy environment,” and producers subsequently moved to restrict on-screen tobacco exposure.
By 2018, smoking and vaping were banned from broadcast entirely, and contestants could only leave the villa one at a time to prevent social smoking or key conversations happening off-camera.
A modern villa with modern rules
Shakira’s story offers a rare look at how those policies now work in practice. While viewers no longer see any vaping on screen, the devices remain a part of villa life but are stored, monitored and managed by production to comply with broadcast guidelines.
