Love Island has announced a huge coupling-up twist in tonight’s launch episode – in what’s set to be a show first.
The new summer series of Love Island begins tonight on ITV, with audiences being introduced to 2024’s line-up of Islanders as they enter the villa and meet their new housemates.
As is tradition in the opening episode, the boys and girls will be paired up, which in previous years has been determined by the public. However, tonight’s coupling up will be decided by the islanders themselves – but they won’t know that at the time.
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“Welcome to Love Island. It’s lovely to meet you guys but I think we should have a little game to get things going,” declares host Maya Jama, setting out the twist in the form of a task.
“Boys and girls, I now want you to rate each other in order of who you think has come across the most like boyfriend and girlfriend material, right down to who has given the least relationship vibes.”
The girls gather first to sort the boys in order from most to least likely to be boyfriend material, with the boys then following up with the same verdict of the girls.
Related: Love Island‘s Dani Dyer responds to engagement question on Instagram
Maya then reveals the twist to the contestants, explaining that the girls and boys will couple up with the person placed in the same position as them on the scale.
“Well, that was very interesting,” she says. “I bet you’re wondering how we’re going to couple you up. Well, you’ve done it yourselves!”
It’s not the only twist to expect this evening, with Maya returning to the villa later on and gathering the Islanders around the fire pit.
“It’s good to see you’re all settled in but as you know, you’re on Love Island,” she tells the group. “You must always expect the unexpected.”
As Islanders reveal their shock, viewers will likely have to tune into tomorrow’s episode to see what their fate holds.
Love Island airs on weeknights on ITV2 and streams on ITVX.
Deputy News Editor, Digital Spy
Emily is an experienced entertainment writer and editor, reporting on all things TV, film, soaps and showbiz. An NCTJ-qualified journalist, with a First Class Honours degree in Journalism from the University of Sussex, Emily has previously worked at Hello magazine, BBC South News and GoodtoKnow. She joined Digital Spy as Acting Deputy News Editor in May 2023, and became Deputy News Editor the following year.
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