Love Island returns on Monday for a new series that is bound to kickstart everyone's summer. Laura Whitmore is once again the host of the ITV2 reality dating show, alongside her commentator husband Iain Stirling.
But the 11 new singletons set to enter the Spanish villa on Monday, June 6, will see some differences. Here is everything you need to know about the changes for Love Island 2022:
Love Island couples up with eBay
In a first for Love Island, this year's installment will no longer be sponsored by a fast-fashion brand. In previous years, online fashion stores such as ISAWITFIRST sponsored the show, which saw contestants don their clothing from head to toe.
But this year, the islanders will be forced to wear pre-loved outfits as the show has partnered with eBay in a move towards promoting sustainability. A shared wardrobe will also be situated in the villa for the first time ever.
eBay UK has recruited celebrity stylist and secondhand enthusiast, Amy Bannerman, to style the islanders. She has worked with celebrities such as Dua Lipa, Rita Ora, Sophie Turner, Jonathan Van Ness and Lena Dunham.
Jemma Tadd, head of fashion at eBay UK said: "We’re so excited to partner with Love Island this year and put pre-loved fashion, centre stage. The impact of Love Island and its stars across the UK is undeniable and together we want to inspire the nation to choose pre-loved first when shopping - even if this means buying or selling one or two pre-loved items to start with, it’s a step in the right direction.
"We can’t wait to change the conversation and dress the Islanders in pre-loved outfits for the very first time."
Brand new villa
Work has been underway to transform the new Love Island villa since the start of the year. The home of the eighth series is again situated in Mallorca’s green and mountainous countryside, east of the Spanish island.
Expect to see a large rustic stone villa, with a bold and fun interior. It boasts a similar set-up to previous seasons, with a dressing area, bedroom, an outdoor gym and pool, with plenty of seating arrangements for gossiping.
The show was formerly filmed at a property near Sant Llorenc des Cardassar, in the northeast of the island. However, it reportedly become unavailable for the forthcoming series, prompting the show’s bosses to look elsewhere.
The show’s executive producer, Mike Spencer, said the new villa was selected in December, and work on the redesign commenced in January.
READ MORE:
Food challenges
Ahead of the new series on Monday, executive producer Mike Spencer took to Reddit to lift the lid on what fans can expect this year - along with what they won't see. As viewers quizzed Mike on what goes on behind the scenes on the popular reality series, which launched back in 2015, they demanded that the food passing challenge is dropped.
Last year the Spit the Roast task, which saw Islanders pass the contents of a Sunday roast to each other using their mouths, prompted a flood of complaints. Roxygen1 asked: "Please can you stop making people spit food into each others mouths?"
And Shambean2 asked: "Why the spitting food challenges I beg youse to stop, such a waste of food! I really think doing challenges with incentives or couple building activities would be so much better."
In response, Mike confirmed: "We are stepping away from the food challenges as we know them." greta_maya_storm replied: "Hi Mike, thanks for taking the time to answer some questions today! In regards to challenges, I'm happy to hear you're stepping away from food challenges because they're gross."
First deaf contestant
Not necessarily a change, but Love Island will welcome their first-ever deaf contestant, Tasha Ghouri. The 23-year-old model and dancer from Thirsk, Yorkshire, will make history in series eight as she joins the line-up of singletons.
Tasha has a cochlear implant and says she's regularly called "inspirational" due to being open about her hearing. Cochlear implants provide a sensation of hearing to people who have permanent, severe to profound deafness, and cannot hear the full range of speech sounds with standard hearing aids.
It is understood that Tasha won't require additional support, such as an interpreter, during her time in the villa. Love Island has been praised by the Royal National Institute for Deaf People for its inclusion of Tasha.
Love Island starts at 9pm Monday June 6 on ITV2 and ITV Hub. Episodes are available the following morning on BritBox
