Love Island is a British dating reality show. It aired for two series in 2005 and 2006 on ITV and after being Un-Cancelled has aired on ITV2 from 2015, as a ratings success. The series was presented by Caroline Flack
until December 2019, when Laura Whitmore took over. Offscreen narration is by Iain Stirling. Unlike the original series, the contestants are members of the public rather than celebrities.
Tropes include:
- Baby-Doll Baby: Played for laughs. When the Islanders are given dolls, they're expected to act as if it's their child.
- Catchphrase: Series 5's Ovie says "message!" when he gets a text message.
- Dark Horse Victory: Jess and Max in Series 1. Everybody else was in an established couple, while Jess and Max were very last-minute and had been established for much less time.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Early installments of the series had very notable differences from the original.
- The original 2005-06 Love Island featured celebrities, and the revival featured members of the public.
- Seasons 1 and 2 in 2015 and 2016 were more dialogue-heavy, a more zig-zagged Darker and Edgier than the original, and slower-paced as compared to the 2018-2019 seasons. They also had a smaller amount of cameras as compared to later seasons.
- Fanservice: Both male and female. By day everyone wears skimpy swimwear, and they dress fancier in the evening.
- Flat Character: None of the contestants presented on the early version of the show get to showcase much personality outside of being attractive former celebrities.
- Hollywood Thin: Another controversy that's followed the show around is that, in eight seasons, they've never had a plus-size or non-thin (and that means very thin) competitor.
- New Baby Episode: Every series has a late episode dedicated to every couple being given a "baby" that cries, screams, and needs to be fed.
- Not Here To Make Friends: At least once every series someone says "This is Love Island not Friend Island".
- Old-Fashioned Fruit Stomping: In Season 8, Davide and Ekin-Su's date involves them crushing wine with their bare feet, presumably because Davide is Italian.
- Reality TV Show Mansion: The villas are in the Canary Islands, South Africa, or Spain, but they're not McMansions.
- Sex in a Shared Room: Although the Hideaway is theoretically for couples to hook up in private, it hasn't stopped them from doing so elsewhere in the past. In early seasons of the show, it was fairly common for couples to have sex in the bedroom they share with the other islanders.
- Sexiness Score: In Season 5, Curtis Pritchard has a steamy kiss with fashion model Arabella Chi and rates her a 10 out of 10.
- Speech-Centric Work: For a Reality TV show this is very dialogue-heavy, and it contributes a lot to the show itself.
- Tamer and Chaster: In early seasons of the show, it wasn't uncommon for couples to be shown having sex in the Hideaway or sometimes in the shared bedroom. This is very cut down, especially from Series 5 onwards, which mostly has them allude to it or talk about it but for it not to be shown, or to be shown extremely briefly. They were also shown drinking and smoking in early seasons, which is reduced (in the case of drinking) or cut out altogether (smoking). Sex is actually said to have been banned from the later series.
- Voted Off the Island: By both their fellow contestants and the audience on occasion.
