The adrenaline that pumps through your veins while picking up your GCSE results is something that sticks with you forever – and our favourite TV stars are no different.

It can be the most nerve-wracking moment as you open the envelope and plan your next steps. Whether you’re hoping to secure a place at your dream university, or you have plans for a different career path, it’s important to know you don’t always have to follow traditional routes to achieve success.

There’s some seriously brainy reality TV stars in showbiz land, and we’ve looked back at how some of our favourite Love Islanders did. From school geniuses such as Molly Mae Hague and Chris Hughes, to others who openly admitted their struggles.

Chris Hughes

The wannabe rapper may have been the class clown of 2017, but it turns out Chris Hughes is actually a bit of a brainbox. He’s got 14 GCSEs – including three A*s and eight As – and worked for a legal firm before entering the ITV2 show. Chris even boasted about his academic excellence during a Twitter spat back in 2017.

“I’ve got 14 GCSEs, a Uni Degree and morals. I ain’t sent s***, hence why all you’ll haven’t seen s***. Worry about yourself man,” tweeted the star student. What’s more, the photo of Chris lying in bed with his eyes open in the villa was transformed into a meme for students not being able to revise. Back in 2017, alongside the hilarious image, he tweeted: “Good luck people. Always remember, Chris backs you!”

Molly-Mae Hague

The social media influencer scored big with her impressive GCSE results, earning an A in English and an A* in sociology. Rather than go into higher education, Molly ditched college to launch her online career. Things worked out pretty well, as Molly now boasts a staggering 7.9 million Instagram followers and is raking in the money from her own brand, a fake tan line called Filter, as well as multiple brand deals. The entrepreneur recently stepped down as Pretty Little Thing’s Creative Director as she said she was “focusing on her own ventures”.

Dr Alex George

Fans were surprised when Dr Alex entered the villa. The hunk came into the villa but sadly failed to find love. However he was open about his school grades and revealed he actually failed to get what he needed on results day to go to medical school and proved there are plenty of other options if you miss out first time.

Sharing an encouraging message on Instagram, he previously wrote: “Good luck to everyone getting their results today!! Ten years ago I missed out on my place at medical school by 2 marks in chemistry and had to take a year out.

“It felt like the end of the world at the time but 6 years later I graduated with a distinction and got my dream job in London. Never give up and dream bit.”

Dr Alex got a place at Exeter University which has a five-year accredited Medicine degree course. To get accepted, successful candidates must have a minimum of three As at A level – although most typical offers are made to people with one A* and two As in academic subjects.

Yewande Biala

Yewande impressed viewers when she revealed she was a scientist proving she is beauty and brains. The Islander never revealed her exact A-level grades, but the scientist did well enough to earn a place at Athlone Institute of Technology, leaving with a first class honours degree in Biotechnology.

Posting a photo to celebrate her graduation, she wrote: “I’m not going to say it was easy cause that would be one hell of a lie but I did it! And I couldn’t have done it without the support and continuous words of encouragements from my family and friends so this ones for us. First class Honours in Biotechnology.” She has now gone on to release a book and become an author.

Aaron Francis

Season seven hunk Aaron is another academically gifted star, who actually did so well in his own GCSE exams that he went on to tutor other students in GCSE Maths to help lift their grades. It’s unknown exactly what his GCSE grades were, but he did well enough to continue his education onto A-level, where he studied economics, maths and art, before bagging himself a place on the International Relations and Politics course at the University of Birmingham. His A-level grades are also unknown, but the entry requirements for his university course are AAB, meaning he must have done pretty well to secure himself a place.

Hayley Hughes

Hayley famously claimed to not know what Brexit or earlobes were when she appeared in series four, but according to her friends, she’s actually a secret cleverclogs, as she’d scored high enough grades to study Childhood and Youth Studies at Liverpool Hope University before dropping out to be an actress. “She’s definitely not that stupid. I can’t believe no one else has said anything,” a friend told The Sun. “She did really well in her A Levels and GCSEs. She managed to get the grades to do that course, but she dropped out to pursue an acting career.”

Tommy Fury

Series five runner-up Tommy dropped out of school when he was in year nine and left without a single qualification to his name. And the poor guy got himself all confused when he asked if he should go ‘left or right’ to London after leaving the villa – forgetting he was in another country. “Oh, s*** you have to get a plane innit? Jesus Christ, I am so thick. I’m so thick it’s untrue,” he laughed. Tommy did leave school with a charming personality and went on to discover his boxing ability and has had some recent fights, including beating YouTuber Jake Paul.

Kem Cetinay

Kem struggled at school and ended up leaving without any GCSEs as he was struck down with crippling anxiety at the age of 13, when he was in Year 9. He attended therapy for several years and is now in a much better place, but never went back to school to finish his education. He told The Sunday Times Style magazine: “Anxiety can be a dark path if you don’t handle it well. I’ve seen it first-hand. I was taken out of school when I was 13, in year nine. People don’t know I didn’t finish school, that I was a different person to how I am now. I basically had therapy seven days a week for, like, three years.”

Scott Thomas

Scott graced our screen way back in series two, and although he referred to himself as being “known for throwing parties”, he actually did very well at school. In fact, he earned himself four A*s and five As before going into the villa. In 2016, he tweeted: “Good luck with ur GCSE’s peeps! I got 4 A* 5 A’s and ended up throwing parties for a living and on Love Island! Who would have thought ey?”

An earlier version of this story was published in August 2023.

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