''Love Island'' (originally ''Celebrity Love Island'') was a British

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

programme that was aired on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

in 2005 and 2006. In the show, twelve single celebrities spend five weeks on an island in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

. The final couple remaining wins a combined £100,000.

History

It was originally presented by

Patrick Kielty Patrick Kielty (born 31 January 1971) is a Northern Irish comedian and television personality. Background Kielty was born in County Down, Northern Ireland, and grew up in the village of Dundrum. He is one of three sons born to the businessm ...

and

Kelly Brook Kelly Ann Parsons (born 23 November 1979), known professionally as Kelly Brook, is an English model, actress, and media personality. She is known for her modelling work in the UK, and in the US for her role as Prudence on the NBC sitcom ''One ...

, with

Fearne Cotton Fearne Wood ( Cotton; born 3 September 1981) is an English broadcaster and author''.'' She began her career in the late 1990s presenting various children's television shows for GMTV, CITV and CBBC. In 2007, she presented '' The Xtra Factor'', ...

taking over as female host in the second series. The first series aired in the summer of 2005, and it was won by

Jayne Middlemiss Jayne Middlemiss (born 3 February 1971) is an English television and radio presenter. She began presenting music television shows such as ''The O-Zone'' and ''Top of the Pops'' in the mid-1990s, before presenting a variety of other television and ...

and Fran Cosgrave. The second series began in July 2006, dropping ''Celebrity'' from its name. It was won by

Bianca Gascoigne Bianca Gascoigne (born 28 October 1986) is a British glamour model and television personality. Biography Personal life Born Bianca Jade Kyle on 28 October 1986, Gascoigne is the daughter of television personality Sheryl Gascoigne (née Failes) ...

and series one finalist

Calum Best Calum Milan Best (born February 6, 1981) is a British-American television personality. He is the only child of footballer George Best. Early life Best was born in San Jose, California, the son of parents from the United Kingdom: Angie Best (bor ...

. The theme tune for the first series was " Wish I", performed by Jem. A specially-composed summer theme by

Daniel Pemberton Daniel Pemberton (born 3 November 1977) is an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning English composer and songwriter. Life and career In 1994, at the age of 16, Pemberton recorded his debut album, ''Bedroom'', on a multitrack cassette recor ...

(later released under the title "From Fiji with Love") was used for the second series.

Cancellation

Following disappointing ratings over the two spring-summer periods, the show was axed by ITV's director of television,

Simon Shaps Simon Shaps (born 10 September 1956) is a British television executive and producer, and former ITV director of television. Early life and career Shaps attended Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in Elstree, Hertfordshire and studied English at ...

, in November 2006.

Revival series

On 13 February 2015, it was announced that the show would return on

ITV2 ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, a ...

in 2015 simply called ''Love Island''. ITV's Director of Digital and Acquisitions Angela Jain confirmed the revived show would be revamped and would see non-celebrity contestants compete to survive a public vote each week. It was later announced that

Caroline Flack Caroline Louise Flack (9 November 1979 – 15 February 2020) was an English television and radio presenter and actress. She won the twelfth series of BBC’s ''Strictly Come Dancing'' in 2014 and presented ''The X Factor'' and later '' Love Isl ...

would host the reboot, starting on 7 June 2015. The reboot has been a ratings success for ITV2 and the show's format has spawned into an international franchise of the same name.

Format

Viewers would vote for the couple they would like to see in the "love shack" where the two would get to know one another better. In the first series, each week viewers voted celebrities off the island, but in the second, the inhabitants had the final say. The identities of those being kicked out were revealed in the elimination episodes. The prize for the final couple left standing was £50,000 each. The second series also featured the inhabitants having to cook and clean up after themselves to fight the appearance that they were just there for a free holiday.

Series overview

Series 1 (2005)

The first series was broadcast during the summer of 2005. The show attracted controversy from the moment it was announced by ITV. It was marketed as a rival for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's popular reality show, '' Big Brother'', which returned for a sixth series soon after the show's launch. Following the launch of the show, the celebrities were criticised by viewers for being boring, and the celebrity status of some of the participants was questioned. There was some suspicion that the contestants were simply using the programme as a free holiday, and the tabloids claimed that producers held crisis meetings to figure out how to keep things interesting. Soon afterwards, tabloid reports claimed that the show's presenters, Kelly Brook and Patrick Kielty, were engaged in a bitter feud. The problems between the pair allegedly started after Kielty told viewers on the live show that Brook had previously been involved in a relationship with one of the contestants, Paul Danan. However, even the promise of fireworks between the two hosts was not enough to keep viewers interested, and one episode of the show only attracted less than 2 million viewers. Producers later hired model Nikki Ziering to spice up the show. The show was also resented by fans of long-running ITV

soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

''. ITV decided to move its flagship programme from 19:30 to 20:30 on Monday nights, to provide a successful lead-in for ''Celebrity Love Island'', in the hope of increasing ratings. Writers John Fay and

Daran Little Daran Little (born 11 May 1966) is a BAFTA-winning and Emmy Award-nominated British television writer. He is the only writer to pen more than 100 episodes of both '' Coronation Street'' (from 2000 until 2010) and '' EastEnders'' (from 2010 onwa ...

complained to the press about the treatment of the show. ITV argued that it took the decision to move the soap very seriously and only did so when absolutely necessary. A meeting was requested with ITV programming director

Nigel Pickard Nigel Pickard is a British television executive who oversaw the creation and launch of, amongst others, the BBC's children's channels, CBBC and CBeebies and as director of programmes at ITV, was responsible for commissioning some of the UK's most ...

to discuss the issue. On 10 June 2005, although ratings were beginning to pick up, with the show close to overtaking '' Big Brother'' in popularity, a strong storm over the islands of

disrupted the programme. A live eviction show had to be cancelled as six-foot waves made it impossible for crewmembers to cross over to where the celebrities were staying. Instead, ITV was forced to repeat the episode from the previous night with unseen footage. Shekoni was the first celebrity to be voted off the show by the public. "For the short period I was there I got on with everybody and didn't have any negative experiences. But when I watch it now I just think, oh God, I had a lucky escape that I didn't end up crying in front of the cameras, or getting rejected by any of the guys, or involved in any of the arguments. I know my family are just pleased that I got out and didn't do anything to ruin my integrity and morals and didn't do anything embarrassing in there. I knew almost instantly that I didn't fancy any of them, and I think that's why I got voted out. That's fair enough because it is supposed to be the love island and I obviously hadn't found love. I'm still looking, though, and I've been out searching ever since."

Series 2 (2006)

The second and final series first aired on 10 July, and ran for seven weeks, a little longer than the previous year's series. It was announced in late May 2006 that

would be Kielty's new co-host with Series 1 winner

presenting ''Aftersun'' with Matt Brown on

. It also has a new sponsor, popular chocolate bar

Bounty Bounty or bounties commonly refers to: * Bounty (reward), an amount of money or other reward offered by an organization for a specific task done with a person or thing Bounty or bounties may also refer to: Geography * Bounty, Saskatchewan, a g ...

. On 6 July the list of contestants was announced, with the news that the word "Celebrity" would be dropped from the show title, due to the inclusion of non-celebrities. 10 July–28 August, seven weeks, 17 contestants and 3 house guests:

House guests

On ''Love Island'', three house guests entered the resort for set periods of time, which was usually a contract of a week. House guests were not eligible for evictions or winning the prize fund of £50,000 at the end of the series, but were allowed to be voted into the Love Shack. As with the actual contestants they received an appearance salary.

Returns

* In week two, in a bid to boost the ratings, the producers decided series one contestant

Paul Danan Paul Danan (born 2 July 1978) is an English actor who played Sol Patrick in the UK teen soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' between 1997 and 2001. In 2005, Danan appeared as a contestant on the first series of '' ITV's Celebrity Love Island'', and returne ...

would be put on Love Island as a regular contestant hoping he would provide the rating winning actions of the previous year. Danan was known by most on the island especially

Lee Otway Lee Otway (born 4 January 1982) is an English actor best known for his role as David "Bombhead" Burke in the British television drama Hollyoaks, for which he was nominated for a British Soap Award. Otway also played 'Ben West' in the BBC dram ...

and

Lady Victoria Hervey Lady Victoria Frederica Isabella Hervey (; born 6 October 1976) is an English model, socialite, aristocrat, and former "It girl". She is the daughter of the 6th Marquess of Bristol, half-sister of the 7th Marquess, and sister of the 8th Mar ...

whose sister Isabella was involved with him in the first series and for a short period afterwards. * On 7 August series one finalist

entered Love Island for the second time, where he attracted a lot of female attention, especially from

, with whom he struck up a romance. * After

Sophie Anderton Sophie Louise Balinska-Jundzillova (born 14 May 1977) is an English model and reality television personality. Her modelling career included a campaign for Gossard bras in 1996, and later included appearances for a range of other brands. Sinc ...

and Chris Brosnan were seen getting closer, evicted

returned to the Island for a day and hid in the secret suite where she confronted her friend Sophie and poured a bottle of wine over her head for moving in on her man. * On 20 August

Leo Ihenacho Leo Ihenacho (born 28 May 1977), also known as Leo the Lion and Lee-O, is a Nigerian British singer, songwriter and actor who collaborated several times with the Streets. Music In 2001, Ihenacho was the featured vocalist on the UK top 40 and nu ...

made a surprise return by jumping out of a

pop out cake A pop out cake, popout cake, jump out cake, or surprise cake is a large object made to serve as a surprise for a celebratory occasion. Externally, such a construction appears to be an oversized cake, and sometimes actually is, at least in part. H ...

, to the resort for one night only to confront Calum and Bianca over their relationship. He left the next day.

Notes

On 18 July,

Steve-O Stephen Gilchrist Glover (born June 13, 1974), known professionally as Steve-O, is an American entertainer, television personality, stunt performer and YouTuber. His career is mostly centered on his performance stunts in the reality comedy tel ...

was added to the show in an effort to boost ratings. Despite stating that he had stopped drinking, he asked for beer while on the show. On 19 July, he abruptly left ''Love Island'' because he was not allowed enough alcohol or chocolate.

was voted off the show on Friday 21 July although her chosen man Chris Brosnan had been the favourite to leave. Hervey told hosts Patrick Kielty and Fearne Cotton that she hoped the relationship would continue in the real world but then had second thoughts when she was shown footage of Brosnan saying that he also liked Colleen. Basketball legend

Dennis Rodman Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. Known for his fierce defensive and rebounding abilities, his biography on the official NBA website states that he is "arguably the best rebounding ...

entered the show on the third week on 27 July as a House guest to boost the ratings. He flirted with

Colleen Shannon Colleen Shannon (born April 14, 1978) is known as ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month for January 2004 and the magazine's 50th anniversary Playmate. Early life Shannon was born in Alaska and was raised in Pelican, Alaska. She attende ...

and created friction with

(who was coupled with Shannon at the time) before walking on his fourth day on 30 July out of the seven contracted until 3 August 2006. Otway fell in love with Shannon but when she revealed that she only saw him as a friend, Otway caused thousands of pounds damage to villa equipment in a fit of anger. He later apologised but was subsequently evicted on the seventh week. Identical twins Emma and Eve Ryan joined the Love Island on 31 July, but were ejected from the show by producers on 4 August. No explanation was given to the public. It was announced on 6 August that

would enter Love Island next day. Also on 6 August, it was confirmed on the Love Island website that

Shane Lynch Shane Eamon Mark Stephen Lynch (born 3 July 1976) is an Irish singer, but best known as a member of Boyzone. In recent years, he has taken up auto racing, participated in reality shows such as ''Celebrity Big Brother'' in 2018 and appeared as ...

had left the island to make up with a woman back home. On 14 August, Big Brother 3 winner

Kate Lawler Kate Lawler (born 7 May 1980) is an English television personality, presenter, model and DJ. She became the first female winner of ''Big Brother UK'' after winning the third series of the reality series in 2002. Since ''Big Brother'', she has ...

entered ''Celebrity Love Island''. On final night, 28 August 2006, Kate Lawler was the last girl to be evicted before the final showdown. The winners were

and

, with

Kéllé Bryan Kéllé Bryan (born 12 March 1975) is an English singer and actress, known as a member of girl group Eternal. In 2018, she began portraying the role of Martine Deveraux in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', a role she played until 2022. She ...

and

Brendan Cole Brendan Cole (born 23 April 1976) is a New Zealand ballroom dancer, specialising in Latin American dancing. He is most famous for appearing as a professional dancer on the BBC One show, '' Strictly Come Dancing''. From 2005 to 2009, he was a ...

runners-up. An average of 3.8 million people tuned in to watch the final, peaking at 4.4m, down from the previous year's peak figure of 5.9 million.

''Big Brother'' competition

The show did not always go head to head with

's '' Big Brother'', as ''Big Brother'' aired at 9pm on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays and only clashed on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays with ''Celebrity Love Island'' at 10pm. However, many terrestrial viewers in Wales could only watch ''Big Brother'' at a fixed 10.00pm slot every night on S4C which also broadcast the show due to many Welsh terrestrial televisions failing to receive Channel 4. ''Celebrity Love Islands audience was about half the size of that for ''Big Brother''.

Reception

In a negative review of the first series for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'',

Charlie Brooker Charlton Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English television presenter, writer, producer and satirist. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series ''Black Mirror'', and has written for comedy series such as ''Bras ...

writes that the show is "just a rehash of I'm A Celebrity, minus the elements that made that show successful". Brooker criticises that the show "openly sneers" at Abi Titmuss' weight, calls Paul Danan a "bell end of considerable magnitude", jokes that the Fran Cosgrave is so little well known that "he doesn't actually exist outside shows like this" and insults the presenting of Patrick Kielty and Kelly Brook, described respectively as "a man you wish would shut up before he even starts speaking, and a woman who can scarcely talk in the first place".

References

External links

* * {{Love Island (franchise) 2000s British reality television series 2005 British television series debuts 2006 British television series endings British dating and relationship reality television series Celebrity reality television series ITV reality television shows Television shows set in Fiji Love Island (franchise) Television series by ITV Studios