A Death In Paradise superfan has opened up about the differences between the real-life island and what fans see on the popular BBC show.
The murder-mystery series has been a hit since it first aired in 2011 and introduced TV viewers to the fictional island of Saint Marie.
Guadeloupe, a French archipelago in the Caribbean, where the show is set, has subsequently seen a boom in tourism thanks to the show regularly pulling in millions of viewers in the UK alone.
For Mike Mitchel, his love of Death In Paradise has seen him not only visit three times, but he has also timed his visits to enable himself to be an extra twice.
He told The Express: 'When you go there, you won't find street parties and dancing on the street or spicy food. That's just for Saint Marie alone, not for Guadeloupe. 'That's the biggest difference between on screen and actually being there. Other than that, everything is what you see - just beautiful.'
A Death In Paradise superfan has opened up about the differences between the real-life set in Guadeloupe, a French archipelago in the Caribbean, and what fans see on the popular BBC show.
For Mike Mitchel, his love of Death In Paradise has seen him not only visit THREE TIMES, but he has also timed his visits to enable himself to be an extra twice.
While the show is only filmed for a set number of months every year, the island welcomes guests year-round, giving them a chance to get up close and personal with filming locations like Catherine's Bar when they aren't in use.
Mike first became a fan of Death in Paradise during lockdown and finally visited the island in 2022, when he and his partner got chatting to the filming crew, who gave them a true behind-the-scenes insight.
The Death in Paradise crew even showed Mike around some of the filming locations - and he and his partner found others 'by accident'.
Mike explained that he has seen several recognisable locations including the Botanical Gardens, the zoo, and a lighthouse that appears in the show.
He even had the chance to visit the site of a Death in Paradise murder which took place in a radio station.
Mike added: 'We found the commissioner's office, which is not in Deshaies, it's about 30 minutes down the road. We found a lot of locations just by accident. 'We looked for the radio station and the lighthouse, just to give us something to do on the day out because it's beautiful to look at. 'The one thing about Death in Paradise is there's no smoke and mirrors. What you see on the screen is what is actually there.'
Mike said that he first became a fan of Death in Paradise during lockdown and finally visited the island in 2022, when he and his partner got chatting to the filming crew - giving them a true behind-the-scenes insight.
Mike said that he's become so familiar with the island that he can actually spot when a character is heading in the wrong direction.
Mike said that he's become so familiar with the island that he can actually spot when a character is heading in the wrong direction on the show - and he knows how long it realistically takes to walk from one spot on the fictional island to another.
He revealed that most of the filming happens on the west side of Guadeloupe, too, in keeping with the show's paradise name, as the east side is marshy and less picturesque.
Needless to say, Mike isn't the only Death In Paradise superfan to have visited the island and open up about his experience; so too has Selina Ryan, who said she has been a fan of the show since it first aired.
She finally got a chance to see the tropical paradise in person in 2019 and visited again last year.
Reflecting on the differences between the island in six years, she said that while 'it's still a great experience', fans could previously access more of the set.
She told The Express: 'When we initially went, you could go into the yellow detective jeep and go on the motorbike that Dwayne used to use.'
Mike isn't the only Death In Paradise superfan to have visited the island and opened up about his experience; so too has Selina Ryan, who said she has been a fan of the show since it first aired.
Like Mike, Selina was also lucky enough to meet a member of the Death In Paradise crew on her second visit and was given a tour of recognisable locations like the police station.
She admitted that while there is a paid tour option on the island, she thought the prices were 'ridiculous' - so if it's on your bucket list, you might want to find a member of the crew!
The 15th season of Death In Paradise began airing on January 30.
It features Don Gilet as the new lead detective, DI Mervin Wilson, after he stepped into the role in the 2025 Christmas special, taking over from Ralf Little - AKA DI Neville Parker.
Death In Paradise is popular not just in the UK, but around the world and it has has seriously impressive IMDb rating of 7.8 out of 10 from over 32,000 reviews, so it's perhaps no surprise that many superfans flock to see its real-life filming locations.
Death In Paradise is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.