Love Island’s Curtis Pritchard is Dick Whittington in panto

Even for those islanders who enter in a blaze of glory and are quickly forgotten (see: Callum and Sherif), Instagram can prove lucrative with deals for teeth whiteners and car air fresheners. Don’t mock – last year’s Islander Rosie made her usual year’s earnings in just one month by posing for a few snaps.

But Insta deals, clothing ranges and club nights aren’t our Curtis’s bag, with the ballroom dancer choosing a unique yet somehow well-trodden path after the Love Island final.

Curtis will be taking to the High Wycombe stage as Dick Whittington over the Christmas period, in a deal signed before he entered the villa.

On his first proper acting gig, Curtis said in a statement, “I’m so happy to be making my professional pantomime debut this year, and am delighted to be part of such an important part of so many families' Christmases.”

In all fairness to Curtis, it could turn out to be quite a savvy move for the Islander, with pantomimes proving lucrative. (I mean, it's subtitled The Panto Paved With Gold for a reason.)

While Curtis may not quite be in the same league, Coleen Nolan is thought to have pocketed £200,000 for her six week stint in a Bradford production of Cinderella back in 2017. In the same year Julian Clary was thought to have earned £192,000 playing Spirit of the Bells in Dick Whittington – the London Palladium version, not the Wycombe Swan edition.

Curtis is not the first Islander to be enticed by the bright lights of the stage, after Jonny Mitchell played none other than Jack in Jack and the Beanstalk at Wrexham’s Stiwt Theatre in 2018.

And it seems panto is a family affair for the Pritchards, with older brother AJ signing up to play Peter Pan at Dunstable's Grove Theatre.

With all the money to be made on stage, looks like Curtis is putting Love Island…BEHIND him!

(Sorry.)

Love Island continues weeknights and Sundays at 9pm on ITV 2. Tickets for Dick Whittington can be bought here.