Season 7 (UK)

**Season 7** is the seventh season of the popular British dating reality TV show; Love Island, hosted by Laura Whitmore and premiering June 28th,2021 on ITV2

## Production

After Caroline Flack's passing there were doubts about the upcoming summer season, however these were quelled during the previous season's finale on February 23rd,2020 by host; Laura Whitmore.

On March 8th,2020 it was confirmed that Laura would be returning to host the show for it's seventh season, having signed a £1 million contract

Later that month, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, there were concerns the show may not be able to move forward for season. However in early April, the producers revealed that despite the pandemic they're still moving forward with the season, trying to find new ways they could still air it.

However on May 4th,2020 it was officially announced by Kevin Lygo (TV director of ITV) that this season of Love Island would be pushed back to 2021, due to the difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On May 18th,2020, it was revealed that the producers are considering making this season a pre-recorded show for the first time in the franchise's history. However it should be pointed out that at this point in time, this only a rumour.

On January 31st, 2021 it was reported by the Star that the producers were looking to make this season the biggest in the show's history, in terms of the budget they're using for the show this time round, with notable moves including flying in 3 times as many islanders as normal in case of COVID-illness. It was also mentioned that the season would be airing at the later date of July 2021, instead of the usual June start date.

On March 4th, 2021 it was officially confirmed by ITV that the seventh season would be airing in 2021, but later in the summer than usual, as previously reported.

From May 29th,2021 ITV2 started to release the first teasers for the season featuring host; Laura Whitmore and narrator; Iain Stirling and were aired during the ad breaks of The Masked Dancer UK on ITV. The full trailer for the season was then released on June 5th,2021, confirming that it'd be launching later in June, using the tagline "This is not a drill".

On June 16th,2021 ITV officially announced their plans surrounding the welfare of the islanders both during their participation in the show and after they've come out. These would include having pre-filming medical and psychological assessments with each of the islanders and extra provisions surrounding mental health while in the villa, as well as up to 14 months of contact with islanders and professional social-media training upon leaving the villa.Later that day it was officially confirmed during an interview on "This Morning" that the season would be premiering June 28th,2021.

### Casting

Auditions for this season, were opened on the day of the Season 6 finale; February 23rd,2020, looking for young singles to take part in the show. The applications for this season were also confirmed to be closing April 30th,2020 but the closing date is extended to April 29th, 2021. However after the season was delayed to the summer of 2021, applications were closed.

Applications for this season re-opened on January 1st,2021, looking for potential new islanders in the upcoming summer season, with the closing date for applications being April 30th,2021. On March 22nd,2021 it was revealed that for the first time ever, the Love Island producers would be partnering with dating app; Tinder, in order to find potential islanders for the new season.

Later on March 26th,2021 it was reported by the Sun, that the producers were looking to try and make sure that the cast for this upcoming season is the most diverse yet, after viewers had previously complained about the lack of body and racial diversity in the show. At the same time, the deadline of April 30th was also scrapped, to allow more time for the casting team.

Keeping in line with previous reports, on April 11th, 2021 it was reported by the Mirror that for the first time ever, the producers were looking to cast islanders of all sexualities, including those who are gay and bisexual.

On May 23rd,2021 the Sun reported that the producers are looking to try and ensure that at least 40% of the islanders are bi-sexual, with a view to heighten the levels of drama on the show, through the potential of unexpected pairings.

However on June 3rd,2021 in an interview with ITV Commissioner; Amanda Stavri conducted by the Radio Times, while promising that they would be trying to deliver the most diverse season yet, she also debunked the previous rumours of LGBT islanders taking part, claiming that their inclusion would be too logistically difficult in regards to Love Island's format.

### Villa

For this season, the show will be moving back to it's usual location of Majorca, after it's first winter season was based in South Africa. In April 2020, it was rumoured that the location of the villa would be changed to a location in the UK, due to COVID-19, with options like Cornwall and the Isle of White being mentioned..
However this was later rubbished by ITV.

After the success of I'm a celeb's stay in the UK during their 2020 series, it was once again rumoured that the villa could be situated in the UK during January 2021, after comments came from LI narrator ; Iain Stirling. After months of speculation, it was finally revealed on March 29th, that the show would be finally be returning to it's normal location of Majorca, Spain, with the production team having got the green-light from the local government. The first official images of the villa were released on June 27th,2021, revealing a complete revamp for this season.

BathroomBedroomDog-HouseGymHide-AwayKitchenLoungeMake-up RoomSwing-seat
## Islanders

Alongside the announcement of the show's return to Majorca on March 29th, it was also revealed that the producers were looking to fly out 2 casts of islanders, as a safety measure in case any of the islanders in their initial cast come down with COVID. The initial line-up of islanders were officially revealed on June 21st,2021 just a week before the season premiere, comprising of 5 boys and 6 girls. More islanders entered later as bombshells.

## Week-Summary

* Week 1
* Week 2
* Week 3
* Week 4
* Week 5
* Week 6
* Week 7
* Week 8
* Week 9

* Day 4:Oliver,Liam
 **Couplings** | * Day 1: After each of the girls had entered, the boys were then introduced one by one into the villa, with them being given the choice of which girl they wanted to couple up with. The final couplings were as such; Jake & Liberty, Aaron & Shannon, Hugo & Sharon, Toby & Kaz, Brad & Faye.
* Day 2: On Day 1, late entrant Chloe was told that she'd be able to steal a guy off of one of the other girls during the next day. On Day 2, she decided to couple up with Aaron, leaving Shannon single.
* Day 5:First Re-coupling(Girls Choice)- Kaz & Toby, Liberty & Jake (stayed together). Sharon & Aaron, Faye & Liam, Chloe & Hugo (Re-coupled). Brad, Oliver (left single).
 **Challenges** | * Day 2:Horny Devils-In this challenge, the boys and girls were divided into teams based on gender, with each team taking it in turns to read out secrets correlating to one of the islanders. To make their guess, the question-reader would need to snog the person who they believe it related to and if they got it correct they scored a point. The islander to whom the secret correlated to would then need to spend 10 seconds in an ice pool, and by doing so would score a point. In the end it was a tie between both teams.
 **Dates** | * Day 1: Chloe: Aaron, Brad, Hugo, Jake, Toby (Group date)
* Day 3: Kaz & Toby (First date)
* Day 4: Public vote for girls to date the 2 new boys; Liam & Oliver- Liam: Faye, Oliver: Sharon
 **Exits** | * Day 2:Shannon(Made single by Chloe)
* Day 6:Oliver(Not chosen by Rachel)

 **Challenges** | * Day 8:Knowing me, knowing you-In this challenge, each of the couples had their knowledge of each other put to the test, with questions surrounding their partners being put towards them. The answerer would have to write down their answer to the question on their blackboard and if their answer matched with what their partner had on their blackboard, they'd score a point.
 **Dates** | * Day 8: Breakfast dates (all couples)
* Day 9: New girls Lucinda and Millie were asked to choose 3 boys each to prepare starter, main and dessert dishes for their dates- Lucinda: Brad (starter), Hugo (Main), Aaron (dessert) Millie: Aaron (starter), Liam (Main), Hugo (dessert).
* Day 12: Jake & Liberty (First date)
 **Exits** | * Day 14:Rachel(Failed to Re-couple)

 **Challenges** | * Day 15:Spit the Roast-In this challenge, the couples were each tasked with transferring the entire contents of a roast dinner from one side of the challenge area to the other. The first part of this challenge, entailed the boys having to toss pieces of chicken across the field to their partner, who would have to catch the slices on their chest. Once this was done, the rest of the contents would need to be transferred across, through only the use of their mouth, with the boy picking up the contents and passing it over to their partner. The couple that managed to present the most complete roast on their plate, would be declared the winners and would receive a night in the hideaway. In the end Liam and Millie were declared the winners.
 **Dates** | * Day 15: Liam & Millie (Won a night in the hide-away through the challenge; Spit on Roast)
* Day 16: Brad & Lucinda (First date)
 **Exits** | * Day 16: On Day 14, a public vote for most compatible couples was opened-Hugo & Sharon, Chloe & Toby, Brad & Lucinda (Bottom 3 couples)-Brad & Lucinda (Least compatible couple)-Brad-(Chosen by himself and Lucinda)
* Day 19:Sharon(Failed to Re-couple)

 **Challenges** | * Day 21:Cat-titude-For this challenge, the girls had to dress up in cat-costumes and compete in a course, comprised of 3 different parts; a giant milk-bowl, scratching-post pole and a giant mouse-trap, where they'd have to place their boy (dressed up as a mouse) on and give them a snog. In the end the winner of the challenge would be determined by the boys, based on who put on the sexiest performance.
 **Dates** | * Day 23: Faye & Teddy (First date)
 **Exits** | * Day 23: On Day 21, a public vote for the most popular islanders, was opened- AJ, Chloe, Danny, Lucinda, Teddy, Toby (Least Popular islanders). On Day 22, it was revealed that the most popular girls would have to vote off a least-popular boy and the most popular boys would vote off a least-popular girl- Danny & AJ (Voted off)
* Day 25:Georgia (Failed to couple).

 **Challenges** | * Day 28:Sports Day-The islanders were split into 2 teams (Green & Pink teams) and took part in traditional school sports day events; egg and spoon races, three-legged race, sack-racing. Every member of each team would take part in these events, going up against each other in a 1-on-1 basis, with the team-member to complete the event first, gaining a point for their team. In the end the Pink team were declared the winners.
 **Exits** | * Day 28:On Day 27 a public vote for favourite couples was opened-Aaron,Lucinda(Voted least popular couple)
* Day 32:Harry,Jack,Kaila,Lillie,Medhy,Salma.(Failed to couple-up)

 **Challenges** | * Day 38:Playing the Field- For this challenge, the couples took part in an American-football themed game, where the boys dressed up as American football players and the girls dressing up as cheerleaders. For the first part of the challenge, the boys needed to protect their cheerleader from being sprayed with condiments by their opponents as the cheerleader looks to try and score a goal. The second round involved the couples having attempt to hold a kiss atop some make-shift bleachers, with the couples that held it past the bell ringing, being the winners.
 **Exits** | * Day 38: On Day 37, a public vote for most popular couples was opened- Amy & Hugo, Clarisse & Tyler, Mary & Sam (Bottom 3)-The safe girls and boys then had to choose one islander of each sex to save, with the girls saving Tyler and the boys saving Mary- Amy,Hugo,Clarisse,Sam(Not chosen).

 **Challenges** | * Day 44:Sex Gods- In this challenge the boys dressed up as Greek gods and took part in an obstacle course, where they had to put on as sexy a performance as possible. The course was comprised of three parts, the strip-tease, lava-pit and Mount Olympus. In the lava pit the boys had to carry a large make-shift globe across without tripping over and at Mount Olympus, the boys needed to use poles that were attached to it, in order to do some pull-ups and attempt to kiss their partner whose head was poked out of the hole at the top. In the end, Tyler was declared the winner by the girls.
* Day 46:Heart Race- For this challenge, the boys and girls were divided into teams based on gender, with the members of each team having to dress-up in sexy costumes and perform seductive dances in order to try and raise the heart rates of their partners, which would be measured through the use of a heart-monitor. The winning team in the end was revealed to be the girls.
 **Dates** | * Day 42: Aaron S: Mary & Chloe, Priya: Teddy & Matthew (New Islander dates)
* Day 44: Brett: Priya (New Islander date)
 **Exits** | * Day 42:On Day 40 a public vote for most popular islanders opened up- Abigail, Kaz, Mary, Dale, Jake & Tyler (bottom 6)- Abigail & Dale (Chosen by safe boys and girls).
* Day 45:Matthew(Failed to re-couple)

 **Dates** | * Day 53: Faye & Teddy, Kaz & Tyler, Liam & Millie (Final dates).
 **Exits** | * Day 50: On Day 49 an anonymous islander vote for least compatible couples was held- Brett & Priya, Aaron S & Mary, Faye & Teddy, Liberty & Jake (Bottom 4)- Brett & Priya (Voted least compatible by the public).
* Day 52: On Day 51, a public vote for the most popular couples was opened up-Aaron S & Mary (Voted least popular by the public)
* Day 54: After facing relationship struggles and breaking up the previous day Jake & Liberty decided to voluntarily walk from the villa.

## Ratings

The ratings have been taken from BARB and includes ITV2+1. The ratings that had been collated from catch-up have also been added. Due to the fact that Saturday episodes are only weekly catch-up episodes rather than the usual highlights and as such aren't included in the season's overall average.

## Media

### Pre-Season Promo

This Is Not A Drill. Love Island is BACK! - This June - ITV2Meet Your 2021 Islanders! - Love IslandReady for a summer of love? - Love Island Series 7
### Best Bits

All of the Best Bits from Love Island 2021!The top most dramatic moments - Love Island 2021The top most emotional moments - Love Island 2021All the funniest moments from Love Island 2021!

## References

1. ↑ https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-02-23/love-island-2020-summer-series/
2. ↑ https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/08/laura-whitmore-lands-1million-deal-host-love-island-summer-series-12366758/
3. ↑ https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/love-island-summer-series-all-21855126
4. ↑ https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/11541672/love-island-cancelled/
5. ↑ https://tellymix.co.uk/reality-tv/love-island/443170-love-islands-next-series-could-be-pre-recorded-to-protect-contestants-from-overnight-fame.html
6. ↑ Love Island 2021 'will be biggest in history as show bosses spare no expense on its comeback' (thesun.co.uk)
7. ↑ [1]
8. ↑ [2]
9. ↑ [3]
10. ↑ [4]
11. ↑ [5]
12. ↑ https://www.itv.com/loveisland/apply-now
13. ↑ https://www.tvzoneuk.com/post/loveisland-apply-2021
14. ↑ [6]
15. ↑ [7]
16. ↑ [8]
17. ↑ [9]
18. ↑ [10]
19. ↑ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-8241939/Love-Island-set-swap-sun-soaked-villa-Mallorca-London-location.html
20. ↑ Love Island 2021: Iain Stirling teases new filming location | HELLO! (hellomagazine.com)
21. ↑ [11]
22. ↑ [12]