Praise be! Love Island Australia 2021 has been saved!
After So Dramatic! reported last week that the series was in jeopardy due to a make-up artist testing positive to the Coronavirus, we can now safely say that it is absolutely going ahead.
On Sunday, September 26, the official Insta for the series revealed a new air-date of October 11. The cheeky promo (pun intended), was accompanied by the following caption: “OCT 11! An all new date for an all new #LoveIslandAU on @channel9 and @9now. Who’s ready for ❤️❤️❤️?”
What Will the New Date Season Look Like?
While this is some very exciting news, there is a catch. Even though Love Island Australia will be beaming in from sunny Byron Bay, as revealed in episode 106 of the So Dramatic! with Megan Pustetto podcast, the show is still going ahead but will be “drastically shortened from 60 days to 30 days”. Gasp!
According to our source, a loophole has been found that allows ITV to continue filming “as long as it is completed within the 30 day window”. Obviously this sucks but we we do love a loop hole!
The source also told Megan that we will also be getting the same amount of episodes — i.e. five nights a week — although, the season will be rushed!
A channel 9 spokesperson, confirmed the news saying: “After working through production issues that have been widely reported, Love Island Australia will now launch on Monday, October 11 at 8.45pm on Channel 9 and 9now”.
What Has ITV and Byron Shire Council Said?
Entertainment site, TV Tonight, further corroborated our story, saying that Byron mayor Michael Lyon had written to NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes to advise that the “council no longer supports filming”.
Minister Stokes, however, is not expected to approve filming “any longer than the 30 day period”.
According to the site, “producers ITV Studios Australia have a 30 day window in which to legally shoot from the start of filming, and are proceeding to meet a premiere deadline.”
“Following recent discussions with the Byron Shire Council we are excited to confirm that we are moving forward with Love Island Australia. We will be working within the parameters of our approvals that we have in place at the moment,” Studios Australia CEO David Mott told TV Tonight,
“I understand the environment in which we’re in. I am very grateful for the continued support of the Byron Shire Council, Create NSW and the New South Wales government.”
What Originally Happened?
On September 23, So Dramatic! revealed that Love Island Australia was at risk of being cancelled.
“ITV Studios were devastated to find out that one of their crew members – a makeup artist – tested positive for COVID,” a production insider told So Dramatic!.
“However, unfortunately, it was not an isolated incident. The entire production staff had to be tested and multiple crew members have now come back with positive results.
They continued: “The Nine Network heads are freaking out because not only will production be unable to go ahead but the entire company will likely be banned from any future projects.
“This is going to have huge implications across the entire industry.”
The insider explained that filming of I’m a Celebrity had just finished filming and staff members were having a “wrap up party” in Byron Bay on Saturday to celebrate.
“The woman had not been working on I’m A Celebrity,” the source clarified. “She flew from Sydney to Ballina on Saturday, to start work on Love Island the next day and met up with co-workers on the production crew from I’m A Celebrity and they had a night out in the pub to celebrate the end of the show.”
Our source then explained that some of the I’m a Celebrity crew were staying on to work on Love Island .
Luckily, everything seems to have worked out and so now, let’s bring on Love Island Australia 2021!!
Know something about Love Island that we don’t? Spill the tea here!
Get the tea first! Follow So Dramatic! on Instagram and tune in on Mondays to get your reality tea fix with the So Dramatic! podcast with Megan Pustetto.
