Friday, November 22, 2024

Love Island is back! ITV confirm launch date for new summer series with a sizzling snap of host Maya Jama

Must read

Love Island will return to screens on Monday June 3 for the new series, it has been confirmed.

ITV announced on Wednesday that the 11th season of the reality dating competition will be returning in a matter of weeks.

Maya Jama will return to host the show once more after she took over from former presenter Laura Whitmore who left the show in 2022.

The Love Island Instagram account shared a stunning snap of Maya stood in front of a love heart engulfed in flames.

Alongside the photo, they wrote: ‘We’re coming in hot! Love Island returns Monday 3rd June’. 

Love Island will return to screens on Monday June 3 for the new series, it has been confirmed.

Love Island will return to screens on Monday June 3 for the new series, it has been confirmed.

ITV will launch the dating show simultaneously across ITV1, ITV2 and ITVX for the first time ever. It will continue on ITV2 and ITVX for the rest of the series. 

A source told The Sun of the change to launch night: ‘ITV want to throw their weight behind Love Island and make sure it has a big, glitzy moment when the 11th series kicks off next month.

‘Showing it across every channel means creating what they hope will be a big TV moment. It shows there is still a real commitment to the format even nine years on.

‘Using the full might of ITV means reaching every demographic, including the crucial 16-34s.’  

Meanwhile, Love Island: Aftersun will also return to screens live from London every Sunday on ITV2 and ITVX hosted by Maya alongside an array of regular panellists.

Sam Thompson and Indiyah Polack will resume their roles joined by new pannelists Amy Hart, Chris Taylor and Jordan Stephens as they join celebrity guests to discuss all the goings on from the Villa this summer.

The channel used a similar launch strategy for Big Brother when it was rebooted last October which achieved an impressive 2.5million overnight viewers.

It comes as Love Island has found its first contestant ahead of the new series.

Maya Jama will return to host the show once more after she took over from former presenter Laura Whitmore who left the show in 2022

Maya Jama will return to host the show once more after she took over from former presenter Laura Whitmore who left the show in 2022

ITV will launch the dating show simultaneously across ITV1, ITV2 and ITVX for the first time ever. It will continue on ITV2 and ITVX for the rest of the series (Ella and Tyrique seen on 2023 summer series)

ITV will launch the dating show simultaneously across ITV1, ITV2 and ITVX for the first time ever. It will continue on ITV2 and ITVX for the rest of the series (Ella and Tyrique seen on 2023 summer series)

Welsh rugby hunk Ciaran Davies has been in talks with ITV bosses for weeks, according to The Sun, and will jet out to Mallorca in the next few days.

Once in Spain, Ciaran and the other contestants will spend a couple of weeks in isolation before returning host Maya throws open the doors to the villa.    

A source has spilled that Ciaran is a perfect fit for the matchmaking show. ‘Ciaran caught the eye of Love Island bosses immediately,’ revealed an insider. 

‘He’s gorgeous with a fit athletic build that will send the girls in the villa wild, but he’s also a sweet boy next door from Wales to boot.’

‘He’s the kind of lad you could happily take home to your mum’

‘Right now, it’s unclear whether he is one of the OG line-up or a bombshell but he is a favourite with the casting team and is sure to make a big impression with viewers.’

The ITV2 dating show will see a new batch of singletons looking for love in Mallorca, with teasers featuring Maya unveiled last month.

Show bosses will no doubt be hoping the programme is a bigger hit with viewers than the Love Island: All Stars spin-off that aired earlier this year. 

While the series was the biggest digital programme of the year to date, it failed to pull in the viewing figures of its glory days. 

After a dramatic series Molly Smith and Tom Clare were crowned the winners of the first ever Love Island All Stars in February.

A source told the publication of the change: 'ITV want to throw their weight behind Love Island and make sure it has a big, glitzy moment when the 11th series kicks off next month'

A source told the publication of the change: ‘ITV want to throw their weight behind Love Island and make sure it has a big, glitzy moment when the 11th series kicks off next month’

Love Island: Aftersun will also return to screens live from London every Sunday on ITV2 and ITVX hosted by Maya alongside an array of regular panellists

Love Island: Aftersun will also return to screens live from London every Sunday on ITV2 and ITVX hosted by Maya alongside an array of regular panellists

The ITV reality show received the lowest ever ratings for a Love Island final, with only one million viewers tuning in live for the grand finale making it the least watched final since series one in 2015.

Including viewing figures from streaming platform ITVX, 1.3 million fans watched the final, in line with last year’s final of the winter series.

According to Super TV the ITV2 ratings made up just an 8.4 per cent share of viewing figures while Overnight TV statistics showed they made up a share of just 7.6 per cent.

Of this figure 0.4 million of viewers were aged between 16-34 year-old, an increase on last year’s Winter final. 

Back in 2018, 3.6 million tuned in as Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham bagged the £50,000 followed by Amber Gill and Greg O’Shea who secured the highest rating ever for a final with 3.7 million. 

Viewing figures for the final have taken a dip in a recent years as they declined to around one million after Davide Sanclimenti & Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu’s dramatic series conclusion which was viewed by three million.

Commenting on the declining figure, one fan wrote: ‘I’m hoping they don’t do a January series next year and they rest it. Just focus on the summer and give people a break.’

It comes as Love Island has found its first contestant ahead of the new series launching on June 3: Welsh rugby hunk Ciaran Davies (seen)

It comes as Love Island has found its first contestant ahead of the new series launching on June 3: Welsh rugby hunk Ciaran Davies (seen)

The reigning champions of the normal series are Jess Harding and Sammy Root, who won season 10 in July 2023.

However, it wasn’t a match made in heaven as the lovebirds split just two months after scooping the £50,000 prize, MailOnline exclusively revealed.

A source close to the pair told MailOnline that they mutually decided they’re ‘better off as friends’ after struggling to make their romance work outside of the show. 

Their win came as a shock as fans had not predicted they would beat favourites Whitney Adebayo and Lochan Nowacki to the title. Whitney and Lochan are still together. 

Latest article