ITV has confirmed when Love Island All Stars will start after wildfires in South Africa forced the show to be postponed
Love Island has at last revealed the launch date for its highly anticipated All Stars series. This follows unexpected and unavoidable delay caused by wildfires in South Africa, where the show is filmed, that halted production. ITV confirmed over the weekend that All Stars would not premiere on Monday as originally scheduled, citing safety concerns surrounding the local blazes.
At the time a spokesperson said: “Further to a production evacuation owing to ongoing wildfires in the area, our assessment of the location site has concluded that filming will need to be postponed.
“Health and safety is our greatest priority and will always come first, and therefore the transmission of Love Island: All Stars will be delayed until a date to be confirmed.”
The broadcaster has now announced All Stars’ revised launch date, and viewers won’t have long to wait.
In an official statement, ITV confirmed that Love Island: All Stars will launch tonight, Thursday, January 15 at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
The network also disclosed that audiences can look forward to an additional full-length episode on Saturday, January 17 at 9pm on ITV 2 and ITV X, marking a first in Love Island’s broadcasting history.
Presenter Maya Jama also broke the news via the Love Island Instagram account. In a video posted on Wednesday, January 14, the host said: “I’ve got some very exciting news.
“I can officially announce exclusively that we are back up and running. Yeah!
“I’m obviously in glam, I’m going to go to the villa and start filming in a minute. And you can watch us on ITV2 tomorrow night at 9pm. Love Island: All Stars is back!”
Fans flocked to the comments section to express their excitement, with one posting: “YAYYYY.”
Another added: “Let’s gooooo.”
A third remarked: “Finally have something to watch for the next 6 weeks.”
Whilst a fourth posted: “FINALLY I thought it would be delayed for ages.”
It’s been a challenging period for the Love Island production team, with ITV reportedly haemorrhaging £15,000 for every hour the programme is postponed. The South African property, located in Franschhoek, commands £9,000 per night in rental fees, whilst crew members continue to receive their daily rates whilst accommodated in neighbouring hotels.
Recording for the programme was scheduled to commence on Saturday, with Millie Court, Shaq Muhammad and Whitney Adebayo amongst those participating in the third series. However, with the wildfires resulting in a road closure near the property, production schedules were entirely suspended.
A source exclusively revealed to the Mirror: “It’s a nightmare. It’s left the team scrambling to arrange alternative options on what’s the most difficult day in terms of logistics for the crew – it’s called the ‘get in’ day, and they need to make sure everything is running on time and that the islanders don’t get a glimpse of each other before arriving at the villa.
“The filming for their arrivals/meetings take hours. Safety is priority though and they have plans in place for such situations. But not ideal given the show hasn’t even begun.”
You can watch Love Island All Stars tonight, Thursday, January 15 on ITV2 and ITV X at 9pm.
