Love Island Australia is an Australian dating reality show based on the international Love Island franchise. Following the premise of other versions of the Love Island format, the show features a group of single contestants, known as "islanders" who live together in a luxury villa that is isolated from the outside world, in an attempt to find love. Throughout the series, the contestants "couple up" to avoid being dumped from the villa. Additionally, Australia will vote for their favourite islanders to stay in the villa. As old islanders are dumped, new islanders will enter the villa. At the end, Australia will vote one final time to determine the winning couple. The series is presented by Sophie Monk[2] with Eoghan McDermott[3] narrating every season except season 3. Stephen Mullan filled in for Eoghan in 2021.[4]
| Love Island Australia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Reality |
| Created by | ITV Studios |
| Based on | Love Island |
| Presented by | Sophie Monk |
| Narrated by |
|
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 144 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Production locations | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company | ITV Studios Australia |
| Original release | |
| Network | 9Go! (2018) Nine Network (2019–2021)[1] 9Now (2022–) |
| Release | 27 May 2018 – present |
| Related | |
| Love Island franchise | |
Created by ITV Studios and produced by ITV Studios Australia, the first season aired on Nine's secondary channel 9Go! and on Nine's free ad-supported video on demand streaming service 9Now in mid 2018.[5] With subsequent seasons airing on Nine Network's main channel, with the second season airing in late 2019.[6] with production being relocated to a villa in Fiji.[7]
Following a hiatus in 2020, Nine announced the series will return for a third season in 2021, with production originally being relocated to a villa on the Gold Coast.[8][9] In July 2021, Nine confirmed the series will be filmed in Port Douglas.[10][11][12][13] However, in August 2021 production was relocated due to border closures to Northern NSW.[14] It was confirmed during Nine’s 2022 upfronts that the series will film in Byron Bay.[15][16] The fourth season premiered on 31 October 2022.[17][18] The fifth season began filming in August 2023 again in Mallorca and premiered on 30 October 2023. The sixth season began on 28 October 2024[19]
Format
editLove Island involves a group of contestants, referred to as Islanders, living in isolation from the outside world in a villa, and constantly under video surveillance. They are allowed to use their phones for the sole reason of receiving texts from producers, alerting them of upcoming dates and activities. To survive in the villa the Islanders must be coupled up with another Islander, whether it be for love, friendship, survival or money, as the overall winning couple receives $50,000. On the first day, the Islanders couple up for the first time based on first impressions, but over the duration of the series, they are forced to "re-couple" where they can choose to remain in their current couple or swap and change. It is common for Islanders to strategically choose their partner not based on love but as a pact for the two to stay on the island as long as possible, waiting for their ideal match.
Any Islander who remains single after the coupling is eliminated and dumped from the island. Islanders can also be eliminated via public vote, as during the series the Australian public will be instructed to vote through the Love Island app available on smartphones for their favourite islanders, or who they think is the most compatible. Couples who receive the fewest votes risk being eliminated. Additionally, at points in the series, the dumpings will be determined by the Islanders, as they are forced to vote one of their own off the island. During the final week, the public vote for which couple they want to win the series and therefore take home $50,000.
Villas
editMallorca, Spain
editLike the UK version, during season one, the Islanders lived in a villa located in Mallorca, Spain. It includes open-plan living, with one large bedroom for the Islanders to sleep, however there are also day beds outside if un-coupled partners chose to sleep together, and also a Hideaway bedroom for couples to spend the night away from the others as a reward. The villa also comes with a pool, hot tub and all important fire pit. Every moment was captured by one of the 65 cameras and 55 microphones.[20]
Fiji
editSeason Two was filmed in Fiji, which is closer to Australia. It is reported that the move was made so new cast members could be added at short notice, meaning plenty of twists and turns for fans.[21][7]
Byron Bay
editSeason Three was initially to be filmed in Port Douglas, in Far North Queensland.[10][11][12] However, due to border restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, filming was relocated to Northern New South Wales in late-August 2021.[14]
Series overview
edit| Season | Islanders | Days | Location | Host | Episodes | Originally aired | Winners | Runners-up | Average viewers (millions) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | Network | ||||||||||
| 1 | 22 | 39 | Mallorca | Sophie Monk | 30 | 27 May 2018 | 5 July 2018 | 9Go! | Grant Crapp & Tayla Damir | Eden Dally & Erin Barnett | 0.17 | |
| 2 | 24 | 36 | Fiji | 29 | 7 October 2019 | 14 November 2019 | Nine Network | Anna McEvoy & Josh Packham | Cartier Surjan & Matthew Zukowski | 0.28 | ||
| 3 | 30 | 45 | Byron Bay | 27 | 11 October 2021 | 24 November 2021 | Mitch Hibberd & Tina Provis | Aaron Waters & Jess Velkovski Chris Graudins & Zoe Clish | — | |||
| 4 | 23 | 30 | Mallorca | 29 | 31 October 2022 | 20 December 2022 | 9Now[a] | Austen Bugeja & Claudia Bonifazio | Mitchell Elliot & Phoebe Spiller Callum Hole & Madeline Wilcox | — | ||
| 5 | 29 | 29 | 30 October 2023 | 18 December 2023 | Kale Roberts & Tyra Johannes | Clint Posselt & Savannah Badger Lucinda Strafford & Zac Nunns | — | |||||
| 6 | 21 | 25 | 29 | 28 October 2024 | 16 December 2024 | Em Miguel Leigh & Mercedes Knox | Eric Gracia & Kaylah Holmes Mia Dalkos & Niko Fotopoulos | — | ||||
- Notes
- ^ Episodes debuted on 9Now, with episodes airing on 9Go later in the evening.
Reception
editLove Island Australia averaged around 200,000 viewers for its linear broadcasts in overnight OzTAM ratings, increasing to an average of 511,000 when adding viewers from Nine's streaming service, 9Now.[22] The series performed strongest in the youngest key demographic band (16 to 39 year olds), but ranked low amongst total viewers.[23]
International syndication
editThe series also airs in the United Kingdom on ITV2 along with UK and US versions of the show[24] and in the Republic of Ireland on Virgin Media Three,[25] has also been made available on streaming service on Hulu.[26]
References
edit- ^ Comms, Nine (16 October 2018). ""We believe Love Island will be our next break out success and are moving #LoveIslandAU from @9Go! To @Channel9 in primetime" – Lizzie Young #9Upfront".
- ^ Knox, David (1 December 2017). "Sophie Monk confirmed for Love Island". TV Tonight. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
- ^ Domjen, Briana (1 July 2018). "Love Island Australia narrator Eoghan McDermott reveals why he won't go on the dating show". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
- ^ Knox, David (20 September 2019). "Returning: Love Island". TV Tonight. TV Tonight. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
- ^ Knox, David (11 October 2017). "Nine 2018 Upfronts: Renewals underpin new slate". TV Tonight. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
- ^ Chandra, Jessica (22 September 2019). "Love Island Australia Season 2 premiere date announced". 9Now. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ a b Chatterjee, Amrit (8 July 2019). "Love Island Australia Season 2: All You Need To Know". OtakuKart News. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
- ^ Knox, David (16 September 2020). "Upfronts 2021: Nine". TV Tonight. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
- ^ "NINE UPFRONTS: MAJOR TENTPOLES RETURN + NINE REVIVES BEAUTY AND THE GEEK". TV Black Box. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
- ^ a b "Nine confirms Love Island Australia returning with series set in Port Douglas". Mediaweek. 19 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ a b "Sophie Monk returns as host of Love Island Australia Season 3 in Port Douglas". Nine. 19 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ a b "Cupid Comes to Port Douglas for Love Island Season 3". Screen Queensland. 19 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ Wilson, Zanda (19 July 2021). "Nine's Love Island Australia to film in Port Douglas for 3rd season". Mumbrella. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ a b Knox, David. "Love Island moves from Queensland to Northern NSW". TV Tonight. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
- ^ Knox, David (15 September 2021). "Upfronts 2022: Nine". TV Tonight. TV Tonight. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
- ^ Molk, Steve (15 September 2021). "UPFRONTS: NINE in 2022 #NineUpfront". TV Black Box. TV Tonight. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
- ^ Knox, David (14 September 2022). "2023 Upfronts: Nine network". TV Tonight. TV Tonight. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ "CHANNEL 9 unveils new and returning slate of programming for 2023". TV Black Box. TV Black Box. 14 September 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ Knox, David (19 August 2023). "Love Island filming new season for Nine". TV Tonight. TV Tonight. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
- ^ Lee, Ashling (3 June 2018). "Inside Love Island Australia's Lush Mallorcan Villa". PopSugar. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
- ^ Palmer, Katie (26 June 2020). "Love Island Australia location: Where is Love Island Australia filmed". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
- ^ Knox, David (10 July 2018). "Love Island "a blueprint" for TV, says Nine". TV Tonight. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
- ^ Kelly, Vivienne (10 July 2018). "Nine in talks with ITV about Love Island season two, as programming boss rejects claims show was a failure". Mumbrella. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
- ^ "Love Island Australia 2021: Who are the islanders and when does it start in the UK?". OK!. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
- ^ "ICYMI, 'Love Island: Australia' begins on Virgin Media Three tonight". Entertainment.ie. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
- ^ Still, Jennifer (31 October 2019). "There Could Be A Whole Lot More 'Love Island' Content Coming To Hulu Soon". Bustle. Retrieved 28 February 2021.