Kelly Brook has begged ITV producers to let her host the purportedly brand-new Love Island spin-off that aims to assist middle-aged singles find love.
The model and television personality, 43, is familiar with the idea because she hosted the first season of what was then known as Celebrity Love Island in 2005.
She and Patrick Kielty co-hosted the programme 18 years ago, keeping an eye on well-known participants including Callum Best and Liz McClarnon as they looked for a lasting relationship.
The celebrity was certain she was the only candidate for the position and insisted she “had to do it” since she was “vintage Love Island.”
ITV executives revealed they were looking for single people over 40 for a new show they were intending to name The Romance Retreat, which sparked Kelly’s desire to add a new notch to her presenter’s belt.
Her confessions were broadcast during a conversation with JK (Jason King), her co-star on Heart FM radio, during the recording of their weekday evening show.
She told her fellow presenter: ‘I’ve got to do it. I’m sorry but I’m vintage Love Island. I did the first series. Hello?!
‘I just want to put my hand up for that job if they’re looking for a host. I still can’t present very well, but it doesn’t matter.’
The brunette beauty went a step further and disclosed that a prominent TV producer had first “pitched” the idea to her, asserting that she had been “at the germ” of the dating series craze since its infancy.
‘She showed me a map of what Love Island was going to look like and she pitched the whole idea,’ Kelly explained.
‘I was there at the seed of it. I was a consultant producer on the first series of Love Island!’
The well-known presenter, who wed her longtime lover Jeremy Parisi in an Italian ceremony last year, claimed that she had been pleading with the network to create a show for older participants because it is possible to discover love at any age.
She quipped: ‘You don’t just give up looking for love just because you’re over 25, you can find love at any age.’
Kelly’s appeals came after the ITV1 network revealed details about its newest dating programme and emphasised how similar it was to Love Island.
The immensely popular channel was looking for “vibrant single parents from throughout the UK who are in quest of love,” according to their official call-out statement, to cast in their series.
