Maura Higgins is among the hopefuls rumoured to be in line to host Love Island after Laura Whitmore announced she was quitting the show.
The Bray native announced on Monday night that she was stepping down as host, before the next series in South Africa in early 2023.
Announcing her news on Instagram, Laura wrote: "Some news! I won’t be hosting the next series of Love island. There are certain elements of the show I’ve found very difficult that cannot be changed some due to the format, including the flying back and forth to South Africa along with my new conflicting projects. I wish it was still possible but know you’ll be in safe hands."
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Laura ended her post with a tribute to Caroline Flack, her friend and Love Island predecessor, who she took over from in early 2020, writing: "I was only planning to fill in for Caroline for a series and it turned into 3 series. I hope I did you proud Caroline."
Hundreds flooded her comments section to wish her well, including Longford native Maura, who wrote: "You will be missed."
But eagle-eyed fans flocked to tell Maura that she should be the next host of the show.
One told her: "You should take over 100%," with another, echoing the exact same sentiment, replying: "please host love island !! You’ll be amazing at it!"
In firm agreement, a third reacted: you should definitely be the next host!!"
Paddy Power revealed Higgins was originally a 10/1 shot to replace Whitmore but the bookies have already slashed her odds to 9/2 following a rush of support from Irish punters.
While much of the early support has been for the Irish influencer she still remains third in the betting behind TV presenter Maya Jama (11/8) and Love Island USA host Arielle Vandenberg who is 4/1 to make the move across the Atlantic.
Meanwhile, other Irish hopefuls in the betting include Love Island superfans and podcast hosts Joanne McNally and Doireann Garrihy who are available at 25/1 and 33/1 respectively while Vogue Williams is among the outsiders at 50/1.
And, if one Love Island departure wasn’t enough, Whitmore’s announcement has led to a major shift in the odds for husband Iain Stirling to vacate the voiceover booth as well. The Scotsman is 7/2 to dump the show before the next series – in from 10/1 before the change of host.
A spokesman for Paddy Power said: “Maura Higgins is box office and any fan of Love Island would love to see her back on our screens. She’s always had a thing for flutters and so do her Irish fans considering the overwhelming support she’s already received from our bettors”
This year’s Love Island winner Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, who won the show with Davide Sanclimenti, has also been tipped to be the series’ next host.
One fan wrote: “Ekin Su it’s your time baby,” as another chimed: “Who’s starting the petition to have Ekin-Su replace the Whitmore!”
A third wrote: “EKIN-SU… IT’S YOUR TIME!” another added: “Laura Whitmore has quit Love Island. Ekin-who? EKIN-SU 2023.”
Following Laura’s announcement that she had decided to quit the show, ITV said in a statement: "Laura has been a fantastic host across the last three series of the show.
"We are so grateful for everything she has brought to the programme but understand and respect her decision, and we look forward to working with her on upcoming ITV projects."
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