What's the next best thing to actually appearing on ITV's Love Island? For one St Albans model and actor it was heading out to the famous villa to shoot footage for an online app based on the show.

Emma Cargill, who went to Beaumont School, stars alongside a cast of actors, models and influencers in Love Island: The Drama, an interactive fictional story featured on the I've Got A Text! app.

She plays a character called Leticia, a 26-year-old graduate from south London whose work setting up her own eco-business has sidetracked her from finding the right partner.

Herts Advertiser: Emma Cargill from St Albans appears in Love Island: The Drama.Emma Cargill from St Albans appears in Love Island: The Drama. (Image: Emma Cargill)

Emma explained: "She is a strong woman who is just looking for a man who ticks all the boxes and is the whole package. She wants to throw herself in at the deep end and has been successful in applying for the Love Island experience."

Fans of the show can follow the action in Love Island: The Drama over 24 days in conjunction with the broadcast of the real series. The app offers them access to the characters’ phones to snoop through their text messages, scroll their photo reels, watch unreleased videos, and overhear gossip.


Herts Advertiser: Emma Cargill from St Albans (centre) appears in Love Island: The Drama.Emma Cargill from St Albans (centre) appears in Love Island: The Drama. (Image: UNRD)

Emma continued: "I was cast for the Leticia role back in December after being contacted on Instagram and found out I was successful just before Christmas. I have been working with the team at UNRD, who created the app, throughout the pandemic to record content from home via video chat.

"The pandemic threw a lot of hurdles at us throughout filming as our original filming dates were cancelled due to lockdown and travel restrictions and there were lots of additional challenges to overcome.

"We flew over to ITV Studios' Love Island production hub in Gran Canaria in May but only had five days to film a huge bulk of our content which makes up the 24 days in the app. Our schedules were very busy and filming well into the early hours of the morning. We had an incredible team around us with everyone working non-stop morning to night.

"As a team some of us hadn't ever met before we got to the airport but we quickly all grew very close. We supported each other in a way I've never experienced before. The pandemic has been tough for us all and there was so much love and kindness on set it created a very special bond between us all."

Herts Advertiser: Emma Cargill from St Albans (third from right) appears in Love Island: The Drama.Emma Cargill from St Albans (third from right) appears in Love Island: The Drama. (Image: UNRD)

Emma, who grew up in Cedarwood Drive, St Albans, attributes her success to the enthusiasm and support of Beaumont drama teacher Zoe Shepherd, and her nan, now 93, who encouraged her to pursue her acting dream.

After going to college at Oaklands she continued her acting at university, and has since spent 10 years working as a commercial model for brands such as John Lewis, Apple, Dyson and Sainsbury's, modelling internationally in Barcelona, Amsterdam and Valencia, and regularly appearing on ITV's Lorraine show.

She added: "I am so proud to be part of the first ever Love Island Drama, we worked so incredibly hard and captured a huge amount in the five days we had in the villa."