ITV has made a huge announcement about Love Island which is sure to delight fans. The ITV2 dating show returned to screens earlier this month and once again viewers have become hooked on the drama and everything else going on in the Mallorca villa.
A fresh batch of contestants made their way to the sunny location for a summer of love and so far we have seen rows, shock recouplings, surprise dumpings and plenty of bombshells with more to come.
And while we've only just scratched the surface of the eighth series, ITV has shared some news about next year's series. For only the second time ever, there will be two series of Love Island in 2023, the broadcaster has confirmed.
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It has been announced that Love Island will return in the New Year with a fresh batch of contestants heading to South Africa to find love. The show will also run in the summer of 2023 as usual, with contestants spending eight weeks in a villa in Majorca.
It comes as consolidated data from ITV has shown that Love Island is the biggest programme of the year so far for the 16-34 year old demographic.
"Love Island has once again proved itself to be the nation’s favourite talking point across the summer, and we’re always blown away by the show’s ongoing impact and talkability amongst our younger audience," Paul Mortimer, Director of Reality Commissioning and Controller, ITV2, said. "So, rather than just serving up a Summer of Love, we thought we’d make 2023 the Year of Love with two full series of the show."
Mike Spencer, Executive Producer at Lifted Entertainment, added: "After eight brilliant series, we are excited to be serving up two helpings of love in 2023 by kicking off in January at a stunning new villa in South Africa. We can look forward to more romances, bromances and everything in between as we embark on another epic year of love."
The first Winter Love Island aired from South Africa at the start of 2020, before the summer series was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Siannese Fudge and Luke Trotman, Paige Turley and Finn Tapp, Demi Jones and Mabbott, and Jess Gale and Ched Uzor made it to the final of the competitions.
But it was Paige and Finn who won viewers over and the pair walked away with the £50,000 prize money. The pair are living together and last year Finn spoke about wanting to spend the rest of his life with Paige and that he plans to pop the question in the "next two years or so."
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