Written by Shona Smith on Jul 25, 2019. Posted in Production News

ITV’s Love Island to film in South Africa

ITV has announced that Love Island will air two series in 2020. The first, to be broadcast after Christmas, will shoot in South Africa, while the second will return to Europe and run during the summer.

Now in its fifth series, the reality show where contestants must couple up to be in with a chance of winning the audience vote of best couple, and GBP50,000 prize is one of ITV's biggest hits with the format commissioned in thirteen countries. Each series so far has filmed in Mallorca, Spain.

ITV has announced that the winter series will shoot in a 'luxurious' villa in South Africa, where a reliably sunny summer occurs between October and February. In addition to having the desired weather, South Africa's timezone is only two hours ahead over the British winter, a great benefit when producing a show filmed, edited and broadcast in just 24-hours.

The fifth series, which is currently airing, has been the most watched programme of the year for adults in the 16-35 category across any channel and has broken the six million viewers mark for the first time when taking into account TV, PC, Mobile and Tablet audiences.

Paul Mortimer, head of Digital Channels and Acquisitions at ITV said “Off the back of a record-breaking year, we’re delighted to be bringing an extra series of our biggest and sunniest show to the 2020 schedule. Love Island has proven yet again to be the perfect format that engages younger audiences. In response to this viewer appetite, a new batch of young singletons will deliver some highly anticipated post-Christmas romance and drama from our new and luxurious location”.

Love Island has been commissioned in thirteen countries, including the UK, Australia, the Nordics and Belgium. The Norwegian version of the show currently films in the Canary Islands while the UK, Australia and German series all set the show in a Mallorca, Spain (pictured).

Image Credits: ITV Studios