Season 9 (UK)

**Season 9** is the ninth season of the British version of Love Island, hosted by Maya Jama and premiering January 16th, 2023 on ITV2.

## Production

On June 23rd, 2022 it was announced by ITV2 and ITV Studios that from 2023 onwards, the show would once again be attempting to produce 2 seasons per year with the first of these airing in January,2023, while the usual summer season would also air later with an 8-week run. This came after record ratings were recorded for the then-current season, with 5 million views being recorded for the season's opening episode across all platforms, as well as having attained 7.5 million streams and 74 million for the entire series.

Later on August 22nd,2022 Laura Whitmore announced that she would not be returning for the ninth season of the show in January. At the time she explained that she decided to step down from the role due to complications surrounding certain parts of the format, notably mentioning the flights back and forth between London and South Africa and the potential for scheduling conflicts with her other projects. It later came to light in early September 2022, that the main reason Laura had decided to leave the show, was actually because of the fact that she felt restricted on the show as to what she could do.

Since Laura announced her departure there have been a raft of names suggested for the position of host for the upcoming season, including the likes of former islanders Maura Higgins and Ekin-Su Culculoglu, as well as names like Emily Atack and Maya Jama.

On September 30th,2022 it was reported by the Sun, that DJ and television personality; Maya Jama would be taking over the role of host from Laura Whitmore, with it being reported at the time that she had agreed to the role and that paperwork just needed to be sorted out. Later on October 12th,2022 the show's producers and ITV officially announced that Maya Jama would indeed be taking on the hosting position from this season onwards.

On December 5th,2022 it was reported that the new season would be premiering on January 16th,2023. Sources at the time mentioned that the producers were aiming to launch the show on Blue Monday and promised an 8-week run, with the grand finale being predicted to be March 18th. This news was later officially confirmed by ITV and the show's producers themselves on January 4th,2023, through the show's official social media accounts.

The first teasers for the new season were released on December 26th,2022 both on television and through the show's social media accounts. The promos gave fans a new look at the show's new host; Maya Jama in a 5-second teaser clip, as well as a clip featuring a rocking bull where the new season's tagline; "Grab love by the horns" was revealed. The first full trailer for the new season was released through the show's social media accounts on January 1st,2023.

On December 30th,2022 ITV officially announced a new amendment to their duty of care policy for the upcoming season, where they'd look to stop the islanders from having someone be in charge of their social media accounts while on the show. This was all done with a view to safeguarding both the islanders and their associates from potential harassment over social media. At the same time it was also announced that islanders would be trained on how to maintain mutual respect when in a relationship, before they headed into the villa. This was done to help ensure that they understood what negative behavioural patterns in relationships could look like.

For the first time since 2018, it was announced on January 5th, 2023 that Love Island: The Morning After would be switching up it's hosting line-up, with former islander; Indiyah Polack and Made In Chelsea star; Sam Thompson replacing Arielle & Kem respectively. At the time it was also revealed, that the new presenting duo would also be regular panellists alongside the main show's host; Maya Jama on Aftersun.

### Casting

Applications for the new season were opened immediately after the previous season had come to an end, looking for young and attractive boys and girls between the ages of 18-34 to take part. It has also been explained that there are multiple ways in which potential applicants can be cast for the upcoming season, such as the application form that can be found on ITV's website or even through the use of social media scouting. The casting Producer for the show; Lewis Evan at the time stated that this is done in order to help ensure that they're able to cast their net as widely as possible, also mentioning the fact that they'd look to make use of events and clubs as well in the search for potential islanders.

### Villa

Upon the announcement of the new season, it was also revealed that the show would be moving to a new villa in South Africa meaning that it wouldn't be using the villa from the previous 2020 winter season.

On November 25th,2022 the first images of what would be the new villa for the upcoming season were revealed, showing off a luxurious eco-retreat secluded in the heart of the Franschhoek wine valley and offering a large Olympic-sized swimming pool and mountain views. The first official images of the new villa were revealed on January 9th,203, unveiling the new villa as the largest one to date.

## Islanders

The initial line-up of islanders for the season, was announced by the producers on January 9th,2023 and comprised of 5 boys and 5 girls. More islanders were set to enter the villa later as bombshells.

### Bombshell vote

On January 12th,2023 it was announced that for the first time ever, viewers would get to vote on who the first bombshell of the season would be. They were given the choice of either footballer; Tom Clare or business executive; Ellie Spence with the vote then closing 9:00PM on January 13th. The result of the vote would be announced during the launch.

On Day 1, it was revealed that Tom had received the most votes, meaning that he was able to enter the villa late into the day as the first bombshell. Despite losing the vote, Ellie would later enter the villa as a bombshell during the second week.

## Week-Summary

* Week 1
* Week 2
* Week 3
* Week 4
* Week 5
* week 6

 **Couplings** | * Day 1: After each of the boys had entered the villa, the girls were introduced one by one with each of the boys having to step forward for any of the girls they were interested in. However the girls had the final say on who they coupled up with. The final couplings were as such: Anna-May & Haris, Lana & Ron, Olivia & Will, Tanya & Shaq, Tanyel & Kai
* Day 2: After arriving late into Day 1, Tom was told that during the next day he would be able to choose a girl of his choice to couple up with which would leave one of the other boys single. On Day 2, Tom made the decision to couple up with Olivia meaning that Will was made single.
 **Exits** | * Day 5:David(Failed to couple up)

 **Dates** | * Day 8: Aaron: Olivia & Lana, Jessie: Will & Tom (New islander dates)
* Day 11: All islanders (Brunch dates)
 **Exits** | * Day 9: On Day 8, a public vote was opened for the most popular boys and girls-Kai, Haris, Tom & Anna-May,Tanya, Tanyel (Bottom 3 boys and girls respectively)-Anna-May & Haris (Voted least popular girl and boy respectively).

 **Dates** | * Day 15: Jessie & Will (First date)
 **Exits** | * Day 16:Zara(Failed to re-couple)
* Day 19:On Day 18, a public vote for the most popular boy opened up- Aaron, Kai, Spencer (Bottom 3 boys) - Aaron & Spencer (Chosen to be dumped by the girls).

 **Couplings** | * Day 21: Fourth Re-coupling (Girls choice)-Tanya & Shaq, Tanyel & Ron, Jessie & Will (Stayed together). Lana & Casey, Samie & Tom, Ellie & Jordan, Olivia & Kai (Re-coupled).
 **Challenges** | * Day 22:Ladiators-In this challenge, each of the boys had to dress up like Roman gladiators and take part in a themed obstacle course. The course was comprised of 4 parts, with the first part requiring the boy to utter a war-cry and strip off. After doing this, they would need to proceed to lift up a make-shift rock and then head over to their partner and carry them to the nearby chariot. The boy would need to maneuver the chariot round a series of plinths, before then carrying their girl up to the throne and finishing off by giving them a snog. In the end the girls would determine the winner, based on who pulled off the sexiest performance. Ultimately the winner was Shaq.
 **Exits** | * Day 24:Tanyel (Failed to re-couple)
* Day 26: On Day 25, a public vote for the most compatible couple was opened up-Samie & Tom, Ellie & Jordan, Kai & Olivia (Bottom 3 couples)-Ellie & Jordan (Voted least compatible couple).

 **Exits** | * Day 32:Bayley,Cynthia,Frankie,Kain,Layla,Lydia,Lynda,Ryan & Sammy (Failed to couple-up).

 **Dates** | * Day 36: Kai & Sanam (First date)
* Day 38: Maxwell & Olivia (First date)
 **Exits** | * Day 40:Martin (Failed to re-couple)

## 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.

**Ratings that feature a "-" represent episodes that rated below 2.79 million in ratings and as such didn't receive an official rating.**

## Media

### Pre-Season promo

Meet The Islanders - Love Island Series 9
## References

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