Johannesburg - Love Island UK’s winter show is set to return to South Africa in January next year following a three-year Covid-19 induced hiatus.
The popular dating reality tv show will air two series in 2023, and its winter offering, which will be taking place during South Africa’s summer time in the new year, will see a fresh batch of Islanders heading to the country on a quest for love and romance.
Meanwhile, during the northern hemisphere’s summer of 2023, Love Island UK will return to Mallorca in Spain for another eight-week run.
The last time South Africa was home to Love Island UK was in January 2020, just before the novel coronavirus erupted across the globe. That season was won by Paige Turley and Finn Tapp.
The couple said in the wake of the announcement that the show enabled them to find love and that without the show, their paths would never have crossed.
“We both found everything that we'd asked for in a partner in each other, and we now live together in Manchester (we've been here for almost two years). We've got a new amazing group of friends and literally couldn't imagine life without each other.”
The global health crisis shelved plans for a second winter series amid concerns surrounding the pandemic.
Mike Spencer, Executive Producer at Lifted Entertainment was quoted by The Dail Mail as saying that after eight seasons of Love Island UK, they are excited to be serving up two helpings of love in 2023 by kicking off in January at a stunning new villa in South Africa.
“We can look forward to more romances, bromances and everything in between as we embark on another epic year of love.”
Meanwhile, Director of Reality Commissioning and Controller for ITV2 Paul Mortimer added that Love Island has once again proved itself to be the UK's favourite talking point across their summer.
“We're always blown away by the show's ongoing impact and talkability amongst our younger audience. So, rather than just serving up a Summer of Love, we thought we'd make 2023 the Year of Love with two full series of the show.”
Love Island UK 2022 scored its biggest launch show ratings since the 2019 series, with a whopping five million viewers tuning in to the saucy series' first episode earlier this month.
The opening saw a rise of 0.2 million viewers based on 2021's launch, with the following series going on to be streamed a staggering 32 million times.
Consolidated data has also confirmed that the Love Island launch is now officially the biggest programme of the year for the 16-34 year old demographic.
For this demographic, the show averaged 1.8m TV viewers with a 61.6% share of viewing, making it the second most watched programme so far in the UK this year for this age group - only being marginally beaten by the Eurovision song contest.
The 2019 series was eventually won by Amber Gill and Greg O'Shea.
Love Island UK has been a ratings juggernaut since the series was rebooted back in 2015, with the wildly popular 2017 series - won by Amber Davies and Kem Cetinay.
The 2017 show saw phrases such as 'my type on paper', 'putting my eggs in one basket' and 'I used to be in Blazin' Squad' embraced by the national consciousness, with even British rapper Stormzy getting involved.
Love Island UK has even spawned countless long-term couplings and resulted in four weddings and seven babies.
Series two runners-up Olivia Buckland and Alex Bowen were the first Love Island couple to tie the knot in 2018, two years after meeting on the show. They recently welcomed a son, Abel.
Meanwhile, series two winners Cara De La Hoyde and Nathan Massey wed in 2019 and are now parents to two children.
Camilla Thurlow and Jamie Jewitt, the 2017 runners-up, are now parents to two daughters and tied the knot last year, while fellow 2017 series alum Dom Lever and Jess Shears wed in 2018 and now share a son. They are expecting a second boy imminently.
Molly Mae Hague and Tommy Fury, the 2019 series runners-up, are still together three years on, while 2020 winter series contestants Molly Smith and Callum Jones are still smitten.
“Love Island gave me the experience of a lifetime, the best memories that I will cherish forever, and of course, my soul mate,” Smith said.
Season eight of Love Island UK is currently underway while the very first season of Love Island SA debuted in March last year.