Love Island’s first winter series is due to start on Sunday, which means we’re in for another eight weeks of fire-pit couplings, poolside dates and nights in the Hideaway. Laura Whitmore is the series’ new matchmaker, but how did she find dating the show’s resident narrator Iain Stirling at the beginning of their relationship?

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Laura, who has been dating Iain since 2017, appeared on This Morning live from the new Cape Town villa to tell Holly and Phil all about her very first date with the comedian and revealed that they "didn't really talk to each other".

“He brought me to a comedy gig, so we sat in a dark room, faced not directly towards each other and then watched his friends perform,” Laura said after revealing Stirling didn’t know she was telling this story.

She added that Iain bought a whole new outfit for the date, as he had sweated through his clothes during the day. “He’ll kill me for saying this – he was wearing a backpack and I thought he’d come from school or a jog somewhere, but it turns out he was working all day and got quite sweaty in his clothes, so he bought a new outfit and a backpack and put his old clothes in his backpack and came to the date.”

“At the end of the date, he said, ‘Oh we should have just gone for a drink, shouldn’t we?’”

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Although their relationship got off to a sticky start, Iain's clamminess didn’t seem to hold him back - the couple have lived together in their Camden home since December 2018.

Iain Stirling doing stand-up comedy
Comedian Iain Stirling (Photo by Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage) Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage

During her appearance on the breakfast show, Laura also told Holly and Phil about how she’d received Caroline Flack’s blessing to take over her. “It was a little bit of whirlwind. When Caroline stepped down, she sent me a text message saying, ‘I really hope you get to do this series’,” she said.

Caroline stepped down from her presenting duties for the upcoming series after she was arrested for assault by beating in December.

Laura also confirmed that Iain would not be presenting Love Island’s spin off show Aftersun alongside her, despite rumours stating the contrary. “Aftersun is filmed in London and we need Iain here to do the voice-over, so I said I'd take one for the team and host Aftersun.”

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Love Island returns Sunday 12th January 2020 on ITV2

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