Love Island (2015 TV series)
Love Island is a British dating reality series. It is a revival of the earlier celebrity series of the same name, which aired for two series in 2005 and 2006 on ITV. The series is narrated by Iain Stirling, and was hosted by Caroline Flack until 2019; Laura Whitmore began presenting the series in 2020.
The show has produced a considerable amount of controversy, with four persons linked to the show having committed suicide. Former contestants Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis had previously been found to have committed suicide after appearing on the show. After Flack's death, there were calls from some to cancel the programme.
History
On 13 February 2015, it was confirmed that Love Island would be returning, and would be aired on ITV2. However this series would include members of the public rather than celebrities. On 18 April 2015, it was announced that Caroline Flack would be hosting the show. The series finally returned on 7 June 2015 with a live special showing the new Islanders enter the villa. During the series a number of guests entered the villa including Calum Best, who was one of the Islanders in the original series back in 2005, and went on to win the series. Mark Wright also made a guest appearance in this series DJing for Lauren Richardson's birthday party. The series ended on 15 July 2015 and was won by Jess Hayes and Max Morley. Islanders Cally Jane Beech and Luis Morrison became the first couple from the show to have a baby together.The second series was confirmed on 14 February 2016, and began airing on 30 May 2016. This series featured the first Islander to be removed from the villa. Malia Arkian only spent a matter of hours in the villa before she was removed from the series by the producers after an altercation with Kady McDermott. It also included a number of Islanders who decided to voluntarily leave the villa, the first being Rykard Jenkins. Also during the series, Islander Zara Holland was stripped of her Miss Great Britain title due to her behaviour in the villa. The second series also included Sophie Gradon and Katie Salmon becoming the first same-sex couple in the show. The series was eventually won by Cara De La Hoyde and Nathan Massey on 11 July 2016. On 15 September 2018, the series runners-up Olivia Buckland and Alex Bowen married, becoming the first couple from Love Island to marry.
The third series was confirmed on 14 February 2017, and began airing on 5 June 2017. This series was the first series to include a second villa, which was brought into the series during a twist set to put the couples to the ultimate test. This series also featured dumped Islanders Mike Thalassitis and Sam Gowland return to the villa after being voted back in by the public; a first for the show.
The series ended on 24 July 2017 and was won by Amber Davies and Kem Cetinay. During the final Aftersun episode of the series, which was presented live from outside the villa, it was announced that there would be a one-off reunion special airing on 30 July 2017 which will include all of the Islanders from the series.
The fourth series began on 4 June 2018, and launched with a record 4,050,000 viewers making it the most watched multichannel TV programme since the 2012 Summer Olympics were broadcast on BBC Three, and the most watched ever on ITV2. The series included the reintroduction of "Casa Amor" following its success in the previous series. The series concluded on 30 July 2018 and was won by Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham, who received a record breaking 79.66% of the final vote. It was also confirmed that another one-off reunion special would air a week after the final. As the fourth series began, the Islanders experienced tragedy with the suicides of Gradon and her boyfriend Aaron Armstrong, as well as the suicide of Thalassitis months after the series concluded. After the latter's death, the programme announced that they will offer counselling to all contestants in hopes of preventing further suicides.
A fifth series was confirmed on 30 July 2018, which started broadcasting on 3 June 2019. The series increased upon the previous success of the fourth, gaining a record-breaking 4,700,000 viewers on TV sets and a further 1,400,000 viewers on other devices for the episode following Casa Amor, the most for any ITV2 broadcast. Furthermore, more than half of the viewers were in the 16 to 34 age bracket. The series concluded on 29 July 2019 and was won by Amber Gill and Greg O'Shea with a 48.82% share of the vote.
On 24 July 2019, ITV announced that two series of Love Island would air in 2020 - one in the winter and another in the traditional summer slot. The winter series would be broadcast in January 2020 from a new villa in South Africa. On 17 December 2019, Flack announced that she would be standing down as host for the sixth series following allegations of assault towards her boyfriend. On 20 December, it was announced that fellow TV presenter Laura Whitmore would be standing in as the new host.
On 15 February 2020, Flack was found dead in her London home, prompting ITV to pull two episodes from airing out of respect for the former host at the weekend. Series 6 continued from 17 February and Iain Stirling, the show's narrator, paid tribute to Flack saying he was devastated by the loss of his "true friend". Sponsorship adverts for fast-food company Just Eat have been replaced by a message telling people to be kind, with a contact number for the Samaritans.
On 4 May 2020, Love Island announced the cancellation of the summer 2020 show due to the coronavirus pandemic. Kevin Lygo, ITV's Director of Television said in a statement: "We have tried every which way to make Love Island this summer but logistically it's just not possible to produce it in a way that safeguards the wellbeing of everyone involved and that for us is the priority. In normal circumstances we would be preparing very soon to travel out to the location in Mallorca to get the villa ready but clearly that's now out of the question."
It has also been confirmed that the show will also not be airing a winter version of the series in 2021 due to uncertainties regarding the pandemic and international travel. The show is expected to return with an extended series in summer 2021.
Format
Love Island involves a group of contestants, referred to as Islanders, living in isolation from the outside world in a villa in Mallorca, constantly under video surveillance. To survive in the villa the Islanders must be coupled up with another Islander, whether it be for love, friendship or money, as the overall winning couple receives £50,000. On the first day, the Islanders couple up for the first time based on first impressions, but over the duration of the series they are forced to "re-couple" where they can choose to remain in their current couple or swap and change.Any Islander who remains single after the coupling is eliminated and dumped from the island. Islanders can also be eliminated via public vote, as during the series the public vote through the Love Island app available on smartphones for their favourite couple, or who they think is the most compatible. Couples who receive the fewest votes risk being eliminated. Often a twist has occurred where it has been up to the Islanders to eliminate couples. During the final week, the public vote for which couple they want to win the series and therefore take home £50,000.
During the first series, the Thursday episode was presented live by Caroline Flack where eliminations often took place and new Islanders entered the villa. However, from the second series onwards the live episodes were axed except for the final.
Whilst in the villa, each Islander has their own phone in which they can only contact other Islanders via text – or receive texts informing them of the latest challenges, dumping or recoupling. Islanders and couples are typically faced with many games and challenges to take part in designed to test their physical and mental ability, with the winners getting special prizes afterwards. Some Islanders are also sent on dates outside the villa, or can win dates by winning challenges.
Broadcast
The first series aired a nightly highlights show five days a week, from Sunday until Thursday. This is the only series so far to premiere on a Sunday, and to end on a Wednesday. The Thursday episodes in this series were live and often featured eliminations or new Islanders entering the villa. The launch and the final episode were also live. From the second series onwards, the live shows were axed except from the final. The series was also extended from five to six nights a week on air. The series can also be viewed from the ITV Hub, after it airs.All series have been made available to watch on Britbox and Hulu.
Spin-offs
From the first series, a weekly re-cap episode entitled Love Island: The Weekly Hot List aired every Saturday and includes a round-up of everything that has happened in the villa over the past week. This also includes unseen footage. On May 2017 it was confirmed that a new spin-off show Love Island: Aftersun would air during the third series. It airs live on Sundays after the highlights episode and is hosted by main show host Laura Whitmore. It also includes celebrity guests, former Islanders and a studio audience. On 30 July 2017, Love Island: The Reunion was broadcast on ITV2, interviewing the islanders and remembering the most memorable moments from the third series.On 1 and 2 October 2017, Chris Hughes and Kem Cetinay starred in their own spin-off show, Chris & Kem: Straight Outta Love Island, which followed the popular double act as they write a rap song to perform at a Ministry of Sound club night. The two-part series also starred Chris and Kem's girlfriends from Love Island, Olivia Attwood and Amber Davies. It was broadcast on ITV2. In March 2018, a fly-on-the-wall documentary spin-off titled Chris and Olivia: Crackin’ On was aired and followed the life about contestants; Chris Hughes and Olivia Attwood after Love Island and their dramatic split. Unlike the other spin-offs and the main show, it was broadcast on ITVBe.
Ahead of the fourth series in 2018, it was revealed that Kem would be returning alongside Arielle Free to present Love Island: The Morning After, a new daily podcast show delivering the freshest gossip to fans.
The fifth series was the first not to include "The Weekly Hotlist", instead it was replaced by "Love Island: Unseen Bits".
Villas
Summer villa
The summer villa—used for the series that take place during the summer—is located in Sant Llorenç des Cardassar, Mallorca, with 69 cameras filming the Islanders. It includes a bedroom and beds outside, but also has a Hideaway bedroom for couples to spend the night away from the others as a reward. It also includes an interview room where the Islanders are allowed to talk in private. This room is called ’The Beach Hut’. ’The Pod’ is also located inside the villa where Islanders can receive video messages from home, or receive other information from inside or outside the villa. During the third series, a second villa was introduced. The villa was called ’Casa Amor’ which translates to ’Love House’, and is located not far from the main villa. This was then reintroduced during all subsequent series as a regular feature for a few days during each series.Winter villa
A new villa located in South Africa was introduced for the sixth series of Love Island, which began airing in January 2020.Series overview
Contestants
Reception
In 2018, Love Island received the BAFTA TV Award for the 'Best Reality and Constructed Factual' category.Criticism
After the suicides of former Love Island contestants Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis, concerns were raised about the pressures of reality television. Before her death, Gradon had spoken of the attacks she had received from online trolls as a result of appearing on the programme. Gradon's boyfriend also killed himself several weeks after her death. Some contestants have had revenge porn containing explicit images of them posted online and have received death threats.The show has received numerous complaints, with 4,100 people lodging official complaints about the 2018 series over issues such as the footage aired and how contestants have treated one another. The charity Women's Aid has criticised the treatment of female contestants by "controlling" and "abusive" male contestants. The Mental Health Foundation charity has also criticised the show for the negative impact it can have on viewers who feel insecure about their bodies. The show has also received criticism for its lack of body and ethnic diversity. The show's producers responded to this criticism by stating that the show was "aspirational" and that they "make no excuses" about having a cast of attractive people on the show.
After host Caroline Flack's death in February 2020, there were calls from some to cancel the programme. Questions were raised about the pressures of the show, and many drew attention to how The Jeremy Kyle Show had recently been cancelled after the suicide of a participant.