Iain Stirling Is Happy Being Off-Camera For Love Island

Even if you don’t immediately recognise Iain Stirling (though, really, you should) you’ll definitely know his voice. The Scottish comedian has been the commentating heart of Love Island since 2015, wittily narrating contestants trials and tribulations as they try to find love on the reality show. And he’s married to Love Island host Laura Whitmore: a true power couple of British reality TV, essentially. But how much does Stirling earn through his prominent voice over work?

Born in Edinburgh, Stirling’s first big break in telly was on children’s channel CBBC, starring opposite the much-meme-edd Hacker T. Dog (Hacker recently went viral after a 2016 clip of his co-star Lauren Layfield cracking up on air resurfaced). After writing and presenting for kid’s television – including a hosting role on panel quiz show The Dog Ate My Homework – Stirling appeared on Russell Howard's Good News in 2012, and landed the Love Island narrating job three years later. He’s also appeared on Taskmaster and Loose Women, wrote and starred in his own sitcom Buffering, and presents ITV comedy show CelebAbility. As well as his presenting work, Stirling also works as a comedian, and fronts a gaming channel on the live streaming platform Twitch, talking fans through his latest antics on FIFA, and Fortnite. In short: he is a busy man.

But, let’s face it, it is Love Island he is best known for, despite not being in front of the camera, which is just like he likes it. Speaking to Radio Times about whether he would ever consider joining his wife in her hosting duties, he said he liked "being in the darkness and the ether,” adding: “I'm just in the vibes, I don't need to be in the front.”

4 Ways Iain Stirling Makes His Fortune

Love Island

According to the Mirror, they claim Stirling is paid £100,000 per season of the long-running dating show, which sees contestants looking for love in a Spanish villa. "I show up, watch the show, think of some funny things to say and then speak over people having sex with each other,” he told the Sun. “I get to go to Majorca for six weeks and chill. I never thought my life would come to this but it has. It’s brilliant. I really enjoy it."

Comedy

As well as providing tongue-in-cheek commentary for the reality show, Stirling also tours as a comedian, with his 2021 live outing Failing Upwards now on Amazon Prime as a comedy special. According to the streaming platform, the show tackles “topics including his inability to function in the most basic of public settings, the pressures of being in the public eye and that one time a man stole his shoes.” Alongside his Love Island salary, The Mirror reckons that gigging and other one-off guest appearances bump Stirling’s pay-check up to £250,000 per year, though that is unconfirmed.

Gaming

When he’s not cracking fans up with his comedy timing, Stirling also runs his own Twitch channel where viewers can tune in as he swears his way through games ranging from FIFA to Fortnite. The presenter has 65.8k followers on the channel, where he “plays computer games for his and your amusement.” Streamers make money on the platform from donations, advertising revenue and subscribers. Stirling also shared comedy on the platform during lockdown, when he was unable to tour.

Other businesses

Stirling also has a couple more strings to his bow – in 2018, the much-loved narrator published his first book Not F*cking Ready to Adult: A Totally Ill-Informed Guide to Life. According to publisher HarperCollins, “Not F*cking Ready to Adult is Iain's guide to what life is really like for millennials and how they can navigate it better.” And all of this adds up. According to publicly available financial statements from Stirling’s company reported a net worth of £967,069 in 2019.