Broadcaster confirms start date of new Love Island winter series

Love Island will return on Monday, January 16, ITV has announced.

The dating show will be back on television screens for its first winter series, set in South Africa, since before the coronavirus pandemic.

The broadcaster announced the news on social media, saying: “We’re ready to crack on!”

TV and radio presenter Maya Jama, 28, is taking over as host from Laura Whitmore, 37, who announced she was stepping down in August.

Jama will also host the usual summer edition in Majorca later in the year.

In a first-look teaser released last month, she appeared with brunette wavy locks and wearing a glittery jumpsuit, seemingly adorned with a sketch of Cupid’s arrow.

Also featured was a pink velvet, be-jeweled bucking bronco, with the new host ready to encourage those hoping to find their perfect match to “grab love by the horns”.

For the first time, contestants will this series have to disable their social media accounts during their time on the show in a bid to protect both them and their families from online abuse. 

Contestants will also receive “guidance and training” around “mutually respectful behaviour in relationships” after the last series prompted thousands of complaints to broadcasting watchdog Ofcom.

Many of the complaints related to “alleged misogynistic and bullying behaviour” by some islanders although they were not upheld.

These are in addition to other duty of care measures introduced for previous series.