ITV’s winter edition of “Love Island” is going to look a little different next year.
PvNew understands that the British broadcaster is still going ahead with a winter show in 2024, but that instead of a new class of Islanders, ITV will invite back former contestants for an “all-stars” edition.
This would be the first time ITV bosses have set up an all-stars season for the popular U.K. format, which has been adapted all over the world.
Given its global profile, it’s believed top contestants from international versions in Australia and the U.S. would also be included alongside British Islanders in the winter season. (The most recent summer edition of “Love Island” featured two Australian contestants, so there’s already some international involvement.)
The move comes as “Love Island” continues to see a steady decline in its summer ratings. The show wrapped its Season 10 finale on Monday, drawing just 1.3 million viewers across the 90-minute program, according to Overnights ratings figures published by U.K. outlet Broadcast. Five years ago, such numbers would have been unthinkable for “Love Island,” which was at one point can’t-miss summer television in Britain. Its popularity even drove rival broadcasters to schedule their own shows around the reality juggernaut for fear of losing audiences.
The Season 10 finale numbers are slightly better than the 1.1 million that watched the winter finale earlier this year, but a far cry from the 2.9 million who tuned into last summer’s finale. Broadcast reports that it’s in line with the Season 2 finale ratings back in 2016 — when “Love Island” hadn’t yet broken out — which pulled in 1.3 million.
The ratings reveal a format that’s quickly losing its lustre with British audiences as it competes with dating reality series like Netflix’s “Too Hot to Handle” and “Love Is Blind.” There may also be some fatigue with casting choices for the show, which often rely on influencers with substantial social media profiles. As such, an all-stars edition during the dreary winter months could bring “Love Island” back to basics by injecting some nostalgia for previous seasons, and ultimately provide ITV the boost it needs to energize the format.
An ITV spokesperson told PvNew: “Love Island returns to ITV2 and ITVX in 2024.”
