There might be trouble in paradise for the Love Island franchise, as a boss has hinted that the winter season of the beloved show could be cancelled entirely.
The All-Star spin-off of the reality show, which stars Liberty Poole, Jake Cornish, and Kaz Kamwi, will premiere on ITV in a few days.
While some fans are thrilled to see former islanders return, particularly those with whom they have previously been romantically involved, others have admitted to experiencing ‘Love Island weariness’.
So it may not come as a surprise to learn that a high-ranking executive who works on the show behind the scenes is considering scrapping the winter iteration entirely.
‘I would love it to stay like this and do All Stars in winter and then the regular series with new islanders in the summer,’ executive producer Mike Spencer told The Sun in South Africa.
‘That way the two series feel different. That’s what we need to do as producers, we need to focus on making sure the format feels different and that it doesn’t feel like the same Love Island series again.’
If Mike has his way, a winter Love Island series with new, unknown candidates may be replaced by more seasons with well-known reality stars in the future.
In terms of what viewers can anticipate from the all-star edition, he believes it will be “the most exciting series we’ve ever had,” with a promise of “lots of drama.”
In addition to Liberty, Jake, and Kaz, additional islanders announced for the lineup are Anton Danyluk, Chris Taylor, Demi Jones, Georgia Harrison, Georgia Steel, Hannah Elizabeth, Luis Morrison, Mitchel Taylor, and Toby Aromolaran.
In an ITV video introducing the all-star cast, Liberty described how she has ‘grown up’ since her experience on Love Island and now sets ‘boundaries’.
Chris admitted that ‘you learn a lot about yourself when you get pied by six girls on the trot’.
Meanwhile, Demi said that her love life has ‘gotten worse’ since her time in the villa, and she hopes to find love the second time around.
Toby, on the other hand, stated that he would not change anything and has no regrets, since whatever mistakes he made in the past were a ‘lesson learned’.
‘I’m going into the villa to get what I want,’ said Luis, who was in the first series of the reality TV show’s reboot.
One fan on Instagram suspected that Liberty already has the strongest chance of winning, writing in a comment: ‘Y’all can just send lib the 50k right now babes no need to even bother with the rest.’
Referencing Liberty and Jake’s past relationship, another wrote: ‘“I’m Jake, I’m Liberty” Man the casting team are playing dirty.’
Several others pointed out that the islanders are likely to know each other from previous Love Island dates, so it would be fascinating to watch how they deal with their pre-existing ties.
Someone else stated: ‘Looking forward to this – but let’s be honest, none of them are going to find ‘the one’ in their. Pretty sure every one of them have probably met, had a night out, cheeky kiss already.’
Winter Love Island launches on Monday January 15 at 9pm on ITV1, ITV2 and ITVX.
