When it comes to reality shows, you can have too much of a good thing – just look at Love Island. The increasingly bloated franchise now features a mixed bag of international versions, the much-maligned winter edition and challenge-based spin-off series Love Island Games – none of which have succeeded in breathing new life into the show. The same is true of Love Island All Stars, and its line up composed solely of returning cast members (like Love Island Games, then). It has been unanimously deemed a flop; the second series of The Traitors scored four times its audience at one point, and even its accompanying companion TV show The Traitors: Uncloaked pulled in 200,000 more viewers.
All Stars has failed for a number of reasons. First of all, returnee contestants don’t always equal drama. Second, the show has such an identity crisis that viewers would be forgiven for mistaking it for Ex on the Beach given the amount of cast members that have previously dated. But the biggest criticism has been the show’s lack of the star power advertised in the title. There has been a total lack of household names such as Ovie Soko, Molly Mae, Maura Higgins and Olivia Attwood to name a few. These fan favourites have no need to return to the show, finding huge success outside the villa – and some of the most popular former contestants distance themselves from the brand outright. We’ve been left with a cast who didn’t get enough screen time in their own series or simply haven’t found the fame others from the franchise have.
