ITV is looking for single-parents with grown-up children to take part in a new Love Island-style show, The Romance Retreat. The show will have a similar set up as contestants make their way to a luxurious villa in the quest for a connection.
The casting announcement for the show read: "This is the ONLY dating show where single parents can search for love, by spending time in a luxury retreat, where all the parents have been nominated by their grown-up children.
Applications must be completed by March 31, reports The Mirror. Last year, a source told The Sun: “Times change and the current generation in their 40s and 50s still care about how they look, are fit and healthy, into fashion and are ready to let their hair down.
“This show will give those who settled down young a second chance at love while they still feel in their prime.
“And, let’s face it, they know their minds, will be capable of intelligent conversation and are likely to be much more adventurous — all ingredients regular Love Island sometimes lacks.”
Calls for the show came after many argued that those who go on Love Island don’t set a realistic example of what people’s bodies look like, with many contestants going through gym transformations and “tweakments” before going on.
Ex-Love Island star Rosie Williams admitted that spent “thousands” ahead of her debut.
She told OK: "As soon as I heard that they were interested, it dawned on me that this wasn’t just a bit of fun – I might actually appear on the show. I needed to prepare myself for that possibility.
“From then on, everything I did was with Love Island in mind. The first thing I did was amp up my exercise routine and start going to the gym every day. I also started to eat better so that I wouldn’t feel bloated if I entered the villa.”
Rosie added: “I rushed to get the rest of my beauty treatments booked in. I spent the time I had left getting pre-bonded hair extensions, having semi-permanent eyelashes applied and getting my nails done.”
