We needed Love Island summer this year and Australia has saved the day
Love Island: Australia might be the saviour of our summers, says Helen Daly.
Love Island fans rejoiced this morning as ITV2 fans confirmed they would be showing the first Australian season from June.
Airing in 2018, Love Island: Australia welcomed 22 singletons to the Mallorca villa for a summer filled with sun, sea and seriously explosive arguments - some of which were so fiery, they made waves over here.
Now, ITV2 have decided to show the full 2018 series following the news that the UK summer Love Island 2020 would be cancelled on account of the coronavirus pandemic.
Currently, the UK is on lockdown and while some productions are starting to return, it seems Love Island is one of those which is impossible to get going again as there's travel difficulties.
In the UK, we're prepared to have our summer plans cancelled and it would be the appropriate time for a show running across the entirety of summer would be the right thing to sink our teeth into. But as much as we crave the summer of '18 to return, we'll have to settle for a variation on that - Love Island: Australia.
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And honestly, it's a smart move from ITV2, that isn't wholly out of the blue. It feels right the home of the franchise should show some variation of Love Island this summer, and the Australian one seems like a good shout, especially considering the drama it caused when it first aired - if you don't believe me, check out some of the biggest bust-ups from the series.
Just like in the early days of Love Island UK, the fights are more explosive, the romance is steamier and there's plenty of characters to get to know and love from a completely different background to our own.
Love Island has always been better when it's more raw. It's been no secret that viewing figures for the UK version have never matched the dizzying heights of 2018 and as they kept plummeting, no format change could help.
A break for the UK series was always going to be a good thing, but faced with the reality of no Love Island this summer was pretty hard. A fresh batch of Australian contestants who are experiencing the format for the first time is not only what we need as viewers, but what the series deserves. With any luck we will find our passion reignited for the series as we watch them come to terms with life in lockdown... sound familiar?
Sure, Love Island: Australia won't be too different to the format we know and love, but a cast we haven't heard of in the country even though the winners are already out there, little show quirks here and there and without a doubt a no-holds-barred approach will make for a classic summer on ITV2.
Bring it on.
Love Island: Australia airs in June on ITV2. If you're looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide.
