Limited booze and strict bedtimes: The rules Love Island Australia contestants have to follow.

While we countdown in anticipation for The Bachelorette to start, a match-making reality show of a different kind is returning to our screens once again.

Tonight, we’ll watch 12 contestants in their best, most brightly coloured swimsuits try to find true love in the Love Island villa.

Hosted by Sophie Monk, the show will see Islanders pair up and compete in bizarre challenges in an effort to be the last couple standing. The remaining couple who receive the most votes will have chance the to walk away from paradise with love and prize money. What a show.

Watch the trailer for Love Island Australia 2019. Post continues after video. 

But while the show may seem like one giant summer romance, contestants are subject to some pretty strict living conditions.

Here are nine rules Islanders must follow on the show.

1. There are alcohol restrictions

Contrary to what you might think after watching the the promo clips, the show isn’t actually about a bunch of Islanders getting drunk and hooking up in a Fijian villa… well, the hooking up part may be true.

But when it comes to alcohol, the producers are quite strict.

The show’s executive producer, Alex Mavroidakis, told Nine last year that the Islanders are allowed to drink some alcohol but the amount is closely moderated by the crew members on set.

Which is probably a good thing, given the amount of drama and male testosterone flying around the villa.

2. Producers control their bedtime

Like on Big Brother, the contestants on Love Island sleep together in a shared bedroom.

For viewers watching from home, the bedroom is where we find out all the best secrets, like which couples are plotting against each other or the latest scandal to rock the villa.

But for contestants, the shared sleeping arrangement means a loss of privacy and control. To make matters worse, there are no light switches in the house so the producers quite literally have the power over when the contestants can sleep.

Side note... Sophie Monk tells Mamamia everything you want to know about this year's Love Island. Post continues after audio.

Former contestant, Elias Chigros told news.com.au: "The hardest thing for me was at night they didn’t turn the lights off until everyone was in bed."

"I’m a big sleeper so I would be lying there to all hours with fluorescent lights, [thinking] like kill me, turn the lights off."

"Things like that, that was the biggest mental game for me, just dealing with so much authority. It was like being a child again and I haven’t had that since I was 16," he said.

3. There's a total lockdown on phones and internet

We already know the islanders have no contact with the outside world while they're in the villa, but the contestants are actually in lockdown three days before they even go on the show.

"Before the Islanders enter the Villa, they go into a three-four day isolation period which we call 'lockdown'. This is to prep them for life with no outside world contact. The rules of lockdown are no internet, no phone calls etc. One female Islander got busted sneaking away to call her mum back in Australia and racked up a $100 EUR ($170 AUD) bill with one call!" said Mavroidakis.

4. Islanders can't talk to crew members

We all saw what happened earlier this year on The Bachelor, when contestant Rachel Arahill started chatting to a crew member on the show. It made for a good episode but Bachie Matt wasn't to happy about it.

To stop contestants from doing the same, the producers at Love Island have banned communications between the Islanders and most of the crew members.

"The only contact with the outside world the Islanders have is with a handful of crew - none of who are permitted to interact with the Islanders at all," Mavroidakis told Nine.

The only exception to the rule is the Beach Hut, where contestants can go anytime to talk to the producers.

"The Beach Hut is the most important room in the Villa. Islanders can go there 24 hours a day to discuss their feelings and ask for basic things like Panadol if they have a headache etc."

But even then, Islanders are have to talk to producers through a camera and can't actually see the person who they are speaking with.

5. It's all about consent

While it may be a dating show, the producers are very strict when it comes to sex.

Producers stress that contestants must use protection and - even more importantly, of course, give full consent before having sex.

Former contestant, Tayla Damir, told Now To Love, "The only couple having sex in the villa was Eden and Erin and it was a major thing that you always had to be wearing protection and everything had to be consensual."

6. The producers are always in control

When they're not competing in crazy challenges and hooking up, contestants can be seen relaxing by the pool, working out or just lounging about under the sun enjoying some down time.

But with 69 cameras watching them in the villa,  contestants don't actually get free range to do as they like.

Elias told news.com.au that the lack of freedom he had on the show has put him off going on reality TV ever again.

8. They aren't allowed to leave the Villa

As we saw last season, there are only a handful of times Islanders are allowed to leave the Villa and that's when a producer has organised a date for a couple.

Besides that, the contestants are confined to the walls of the luxury estate and have no contact with the outside world.

"I don't know if you know but production are very strict; we couldn't even get a f***ing pregnancy test if we wanted!" season one's Erin Barnett told Now To Love.

9. The crew handles the cooking and cleaning

While contestants have to abide by a set of stringent rules, there are some perks to being on the show.

The contestants are well looked after and most of the cooking and cleaning is handled by the crew. They even have their laundry picked up and dropped back off to them once a week.

"You will notice that you rarely see the Islanders eating and almost never see them cleaning -- Love Island Australia is not a cooking or a reno show. We want it to be sexy and we want it to be funny. Cooking, eating and cleaning aren't generally very sexy or very funny!" said Mavroidakis

Love Island Australia returns to our screens on Monday, October 7 at 8.45pm on Nine.

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