ITV bosses are set to spend a whopping £8,000 a day to rent the new 17-bed Winter Love Island villa on the Ludus Magnus estate in South Africa, Politicalite can reveal.
The luxury property boasts a T-shaped swimming pool, a rugby pitch and zip line.
A telly source told Politicalite: “The challenges on Love Island always make for fun TV and this place is a producer’s dream.
“It’s absolutely stunning and has so much going on. It will set the standard for future series.
“There’s bound to be plenty of fun and games on the winter edition and Ludus Magnus provides the perfect opportunity for a huge range of activities for the contestants to get stuck into.”
Instead of requiring contestants to travel a short distance to ‘Casa Amor’, the Islanders will reportedly be bonding with fresh meat from the private beach in the middle of a lake on the sprawling estate.
Maya Jama has taken over from Laura for the upcoming series.
Meanwhile, former host Laura Whitmore has admitted she’d “probably still be” hosting the show if she could have changed the format.
The 37-year-old presenter – who stepped into the role following the passing of Caroline Flack in 2020 – quit the ITV2 dating show this year because she found certain “elements” of the programme “very difficult”, and she also wished she could offer the Islanders more support and have more of a voice.
She reflected in Psychologies magazine: “There was only so much I can do as a host – I couldn’t support them or not support them. I couldn’t say anything. So you kind of have to go quiet, and that was hard for me because I like to be able to have those conversations.”
She added: “If I could [have done] things the way I wanted to, I’d probably still be doing it.”
Announcing her departure, Laura told fans at the time: “Some news! I won’t be hosting the next season of Love island. There are certain elements of the show I’ve found very difficult that cannot be changed some due to the format, including the flying back and forth to South Africa along with my new conflicting projects.
“I wish it was still possible but know you’ll be in safe hands. I was only planning to fill in for Caroline for a season and it turned into three seasons. I hope I did you proud Caroline.”
