Contestants on reality shows like Love Island and The Bachelor are supposed to be there to find love, so when drama emerges, they’re often asking: Is this person here for the right reasons?
The better question might be: Have the right reasons evolved?
For many reality show contestants, the biggest benefit of appearing on unscripted television isn’t to walk away a winner, but rather to use their raised profiles as a launchpad for their personal brand, according to Tamika Rose, director of campaign management at talent agency Kensington Grey.
“I don’t know if everyone will find love on a [reality show], so there has to be some form of understanding that you will have additional benefits of being on a show like this,” Rose told us. “Approaching it that way is normal at this point. I think people should capitalize on the opportunity that they’re getting.”
And capitalize they are. Hannah Brown, who first competed on Season 23 of The Bachelor, is the most followed former contestant from the Bachelor franchise, reaching 2.7 million people on Instagram; an AT&T Savings report from 2020, after Brown starred in her own season of The Bachelorette, estimated that she averaged between $5,260 and $8,767 per sponsored Instagram post. Meanwhile, Love Island USA’s Leah Kateb boasts 4.6 million Instagram followers; according to an estimate from creator platform Hafi.pro, she brings in more than $100,000 a month from sponsored social content.
Rose, who has worked with former Love Island contestants like Season 1’s Aïssata Diallo and Season 2’s Justine Joy Ndiba, has helped create social media careers lasting beyond the immediate hype wave of a season and connected brands to creators for years after the bombshell leaves the villa. While she said that crafting a resonant personal narrative is key, there’s a lot more to it, she told us. Here’s how she gets it done.
From big screen to small screen
Rose encourages reality contestants to begin working with a creator agency far before an onscreen introduction to legions of TV fans.
“Please seek out representation even before you go on the show,” Rose said. “Or after the show, make sure your inbox is open and you’re looking for somebody to help represent who you are now that you have millions of followers.”
In Rose’s experience, some reality show cast members may not be well-versed in the influencer world and sometimes don’t know how to navigate issues like rates, content ownership, or contract negotiations, which can put them at a disadvantage. Management firms can often provide the expertise that newer influencers might otherwise lack, she said.
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Once representation is secured, Rose said understanding the client’s personal story is key to laying the foundation for a sustainable creator career, she said. This can look like doubling down on aspects of their personalities that resonated onscreen or introducing new categories of content they’d like to produce.
Take, for example, Love Island USA’s most recent breakout star, Huda Mustafa, who came to the show as a fitness coach. If Rose was working with Mustafa—or someone with a similar background—she suggested leaning into fitness as an area of interest.
“[After the show], we’re looking to see who the biggest names within that industry are, and how can we align her with that?” Rose said. “If…her audience actually resonates really strongly with that, then we’d continue to make that a strong pillar for her.”
That’s not always the case. In the case of Diallo, from Season 1, new fans might have learned about her for the beauty-and-bikinis branding core to the show—but Rose said she helped Diallo pivot, instead elevating Diallo’s personal connection to her religion and leaning into more “modest fashion.”
Rose said the shift helped Diallo defy fans’ expectations, and Diallo said it was necessary for her broader career ambitions.
“My goal was not to be known for being on reality TV, so I knew I had to shift the narrative,” Diallo told us. “I knew that I wanted to brand myself in a way that the brands that I will potentially work with are only elevating my storytelling and speaking to my audience.”
In the reality-to-influencer pipeline, timing can feel like it’s everything, but Rose believes intentional brand partnerships are often more crucial than speed.
“Timing is important, but we want to make sure that whatever the partnership is, it’s very intentional, and it has a long-term brand perception,” Rose said. “We would most likely look to make sure that we catch momentum, but we are not sacrificing the integrity of that creator or their platform.”
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