Love Island (2005 TV series)

It was originally presented by Patrick Kielty and Kelly Brook, with Fearne Cotton taking over as female host in the second series. The first series aired in the summer of 2005, and it was won by Jayne Middlemiss and Fran Cosgrave. The second series began in July 2006, dropping Celebrity from its name. It was won by Bianca Gascoigne and series one finalist Calum Best.

The theme tune for the first series was "Wish I", performed by Jem. A specially-composed summer theme by Daniel Pemberton (later released under the title "From Fiji with Love") was used for the second series.

Viewers would vote for the couple they would like to see in the "love shack" where the two would get to know one another better. In the first series, each week viewers voted celebrities off the island, but in the second, the inhabitants had the final say. The identities of those being kicked out were revealed in the elimination episodes. The prize for the final couple left standing was £50,000 each. The second series also featured the inhabitants having to cook and clean up after themselves to fight the appearance that they were just there for a free holiday.[4][5]

The first series was broadcast during the summer of 2005.

The show attracted controversy from the moment it was announced by ITV. It was marketed as a rival for Channel 4's popular reality show, Big Brother, which returned for a sixth series soon after the show's launch. Following the launch of the show, the celebrities were criticised by viewers for being boring, and the celebrity status of some of the participants was questioned. There was some suspicion that the contestants were simply using the programme as a free holiday, and the tabloids claimed that producers held crisis meetings to figure out how to keep things interesting.[9]

Soon afterwards, tabloid reports claimed that the show's presenters, Kelly Brook and Patrick Kielty, were engaged in a bitter feud. The problems between the pair allegedly started after Kielty told viewers on the live show that Brook had previously been involved in a relationship with one of the contestants, Paul Danan.[10] However, even the promise of fireworks between the two hosts was not enough to keep viewers interested, and one episode of the show only attracted less than 2 million viewers. Producers later hired model Nikki Ziering to spice up the show.

The show was also resented by fans of long-running ITV soap Coronation Street. ITV decided to move its flagship programme from 19:30 to 20:30 on Monday nights, to provide a successful lead-in for Celebrity Love Island, in the hope of increasing ratings. Writers John Fay and Daran Little complained to the press about the treatment of the show. ITV argued that it took the decision to move the soap very seriously and only did so when absolutely necessary. A meeting was requested with ITV programming director Nigel Pickard to discuss the issue.[11]

On 10 June 2005, although ratings were beginning to pick up, with the show close to overtaking Big Brother in popularity, a strong storm over the islands of Fiji disrupted the programme. A live eviction show had to be cancelled as six-foot waves made it impossible for crewmembers to cross over to where the celebrities were staying. Instead, ITV was forced to repeat the episode from the previous night with unseen footage.

Shekoni was the first celebrity to be voted off the show by the public. "For the short period I was there I got on with everybody and didn't have any negative experiences. But when I watch it now I just think, oh God, I had a lucky escape that I didn't end up crying in front of the cameras, or getting rejected by any of the guys, or involved in any of the arguments. I know my family are just pleased that I got out and didn't do anything to ruin my integrity and morals and didn't do anything embarrassing in there. I knew almost instantly that I didn't fancy any of them, and I think that's why I got voted out. That's fair enough because it is supposed to be the love island and I obviously hadn't found love. I'm still looking, though, and I've been out searching ever since."[12]

The second and final series first aired on 10 July, and ran for seven weeks, a little longer than the previous year's series. It was announced in late May 2006 that Fearne Cotton would be Kielty's new co-host with Series 1 winner Jayne Middlemiss presenting Aftersun with Matt Brown on ITV2. It also has a new sponsor, popular chocolate bar Bounty.

On 6 July the list of contestants was announced, with the news that the word "Celebrity" would be dropped from the show title, due to the inclusion of non-celebrities.[13]

10 July–28 August, seven weeks, 17 contestants and 3 house guests:

The show did not always go head to head with Channel 4's Big Brother, as Big Brother aired at 9pm on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays and only clashed on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays with Celebrity Love Island at 10pm. However, many terrestrial viewers in Wales could only watch Big Brother at a fixed 10.00pm slot every night on S4C which also broadcast the show due to many Welsh terrestrial televisions failing to receive Channel 4. Celebrity Love Island's audience was about half the size of that for Big Brother.[15]

In a negative review of the first series for The Guardian, Charlie Brooker writes that the show is "just a rehash of I'm A Celebrity, minus the elements that made that show successful". Brooker criticises that the show "openly sneers" at Abi Titmuss' weight, calls Paul Danan a "bell end of considerable magnitude", jokes that the Fran Cosgrave is so little well known that "he doesn't actually exist outside shows like this" and insults the presenting of Patrick Kielty and Kelly Brook, described respectively as "a man you wish would shut up before he even starts speaking, and a woman who can scarcely talk in the first place".[16]

• Temptation Island
• Paradise Hotel
• Forever Eden
• Love in the Wild

• Love Island at IMDb
• Official ITV website at the Wayback Machine (archived 13 July 2007)