Take that, Piers Morgan

Love Island is one of the most popular TV shows on air at the minute. Every night, families, friends, colleagues, gather round their television sets to watch a bunch of sunburnt, half naked twenty-somethings wander around a villa in Mallorca, flirting and falling out over petty squabbles that make us feel better about ourselves. They also get invested in the genuine romances that spring up on the show. Long live Jack and Dani. The show's popularity has pushed it high up the news order in recent weeks, wedged somewhere between the World Cup and Brexit. Of course, not all of its coverage is positive. Professional contrarian Piers Morgan invited a contestant onto his show Good Morning Britain, with the sole intention of belittling her intellect. However, he tied himself in knots and ended up looking the fool, as he often does. He won't be laughing now though, as economists have found that being on Love Island as a contestant is a more lucrative career investment than attending Oxford or Cambridge universities. A group of economists have done the maths, and it turns out that appearing on the show for eight weeks could net you more money over the course of your life than studying for three years at Oxbridge. Research from Frontier Economics estimates that someone who appears on the show could expect to make £1.1m in subsequent sponsorship deals and appearance fees throughout the rest of their life, compared to a lifetime return of £815,000 from completing a degree at Oxbridge. “If you’ve got an offer from Oxbridge and Love Island, you’re better off going on Love Island,” said Kristine Dislere, who completed her masters degree in economics at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. So, if you fail your Leaving Cert this summer, don't panic. *disclaimer* This article in no way encourages students to sack off their exams.