| Love Island | |
|---|---|
 Love Island, 2006 Logo |
|
| Genre | Reality |
| Presented by | Patrick Kielty Kelly Brook (2005) Fearne Cotton (2006) |
| Starring | Various celebrities |
| Country of origin |  United
Kingdom |
| No. of series | 2 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | ITV Productions |
| Running time | 30 to 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV ITV2 ITV Play |
| Picture format | 16:9 |
| Original run | 16 May 2005 – 28 August 2006 |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
Love Island (originally Celebrity Love Island) was a daily British reality television programme. In the show, twelve single "celebrities" spent five weeks on an island in Fiji. 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 season, 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 eviction episodes. The prize for the final couple left standing was £50,000. The second season 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.[1][2] It was originally presented by Patrick Kielty and Kelly Brook, with Fearne Cotton taking over as female host in the second series. It is aired in the UK on ITV. The first series aired in the summer of 2005, and it was won by Jayne Middlemiss and Fran Cosgrave. The second series began in July 2006, dropping Celebrity from its name. It was won by Bianca Gascoigne and Calum Best. The theme tune for the first series was Wish I, performed by Jem. A specially-composed summer theme by Daniel Pemberton (later released under the title From Fiji With Love) was used for the second series. The show was axed in November 2006.
Contents |
The first series was broadcast during the summer of 2005.
| Contestant | Occupation/Known for | Notes |
| Jayne Middlemiss | TV presenter | WINNER |
| Fran Cosgrave | Nightclub owner | WINNER |
| Calum Best | Model | |
| Paul Danan | Actor | |
| Michael Greco | Actor | |
| Lady Isabella Hervey | "It Girl", sister of Lady Victoria Hervey | |
| Du'aine Ladejo | Athlete | |
| Rebecca Loos | David Beckham's former PA | |
| Liz McClarnon | Singer (member of Atomic Kitten) | |
| Lee Sharpe | Footballer | |
| Judi Shekoni | Actress | |
| Abi Titmuss | Model, TV presenter | |
| Nikki Ziering | Model | (Late arrival) |
The show attracted controversy from the moment it was announced by ITV. It was marketed as a rival for Channel 4's popular reality show, Big Brother, which returned for a sixth series soon after the show's launch. Many commentators felt that the format of the show provided low quality television as an excuse to attract high ratings.
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.[3]
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.[4] 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 Coronation Street. ITV decided to move its flagship programme from 19:30 to 20:30 on Monday nights, to provide a successful lead-in for Love Island, in the hope of increasing ratings. Writers John Fay and Daran Little 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 to discuss the issue.[5]
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 Fiji disrupted the programme. A live eviction show had to be cancelled as 6 foot waves made it impossible for crew-members to cross over to where the celebrities were staying. Instead, ITV was forced to repeat the episode from the previous night with unseen footage.
The show was so badly received by viewers and critics that the word 'Celebrity' is now seen as tainted by UK television companies. An interesting example was Sky TV's celebrity golf tournament, broadcast on Sky One on the August Bank Holiday weekend 2005, was called All*Star Cup and Sky ceased referring to "celebrities" in trailers. On ITV, the 'celebrity' version of The X Factor was called "Battle of the Stars".
The second 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 Fearne Cotton would be Kielty's new co-host with Series 1 winner Jayne Middlemiss presenting Aftersun with Matt Brown on ITV2. It also has a new sponsor, popular chocolate bar Bounty.
On 6 July the list of contestants was announced, with the news that the word "Celebrity" would be dropped from the show title [6].
10 July–28 August, seven weeks, 17 contestants and 3 house guests:
| Contestant | Occupation/Known for | Status |
| Bianca Gascoigne | Model, stepdaughter of Paul Gascoigne | WINNER |
| Calum Best (late arrival week 4) | Model | WINNER |
| Kéllé Bryan | Singer (former member of Eternal) | Runner-up |
| Brendan Cole | Dancer | Runner-up |
| Kate Lawler | TV/Radio Presenter, DJ, winner of Big Brother 3 | Evicted: At the Final (late arrival week 6) |
| Chris Brosnan | Adopted son of actor Pierce Brosnan | Evicted: Final Day |
| Sophie Anderton | Model | Evicted: Week 7 |
| Lee Otway | Actor (previously in Hollyoaks) | Evicted: Week 7 |
| Colleen Shannon | DJ, Model (former Playboy playmate) | Evicted: Week 7 |
| Shane Lynch | Singer (former member of Boyzone) | Walked: Week 5 |
| Paul Danan | Actor (previously in Hollyoaks) | Evicted: Week 5 (late arrival day 6) |
| Emma and Eve Ryan | Glamour Models | Ejected: Week 4 (late arrivals week 4; ejected after 5 days in the resort, they spent 2 days prior in the secret suite, for unexplained reasons) |
| Leo Ihenacho | Backing Musician for The Streets | Evicted: Week 4 |
| Emily Scott | Bikini Model | Evicted: Week 3 (late arrival week 3) |
| Lady Victoria Hervey | "It Girl" | Evicted: Week 2 |
| Alicia Douvall | Glamour Model, kiss and tell queen | Evicted: Week 1 |
| Contestant | Occupation/Known for | Status |
| Abs Breen | Singer (former member of Five) | Week 4 (Stayed 5 days) |
| Dennis Rodman | Former NBA champion, CBB 2006 contestant | Week 3 (Stayed 4 days before quitting) |
| Steve-O | Clown and stuntman Jackass | Week 2 (Stayed 2 days because he was not allowed the beer and chocolate which he requested) |
On 18 July, Steve-O was added to the show in an effort to boost ratings. Despite stating he has 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[7]
Lady Victoria Hervey 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 entered the show on the third week on 27 July as a House guest to boost the ratings. he flirted with Colleen Shannon, and created friction with Lee Otway before walking in the midst of an argument between Lee and Paul Danan, on his fourth day on 30 July out of the seven contracted until 3 August 2006.
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 Calum Best would enter Love Island next day. Also on 6 August, it was confirmed on the Love Island website that Shane Lynch had left the island to make up with a woman back home.
On 14 August, Big Brother 3 winner Kate Lawler entered Love Island.
On final night, 28 August 2006, Kate Lawler was the last girl to be evicted before the final showdown.
The winners were Bianca Gascoigne and Calum Best, with Kéllé Bryan and Brendan Cole runners-up.
An average of 3.8 million people tuned in to watch the final, peaking at 4.4m, down from last year's peak figure of 5.9 million.
The show did not always go head to head with Channel 4's Big Brother, as Big Brother aired at 9pm on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays and only clashed on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays with 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. Love Island's audience was about half the size of that for Big Brother. [8]
On 24 November 2006, ITV revealed that a third series would not be made and that it was axing Love Island. [9]
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