ITV2 will air ‘Love Island Australia’ after the UK version was cancelled due to coronavirus.
Bosses made the decision to axe this year’s reality show to protect the cast and crew during the global pandemic, and will instead broadcast the spin-off show over the summer on ITV2
A promotional video for the new series teased: "Bring on the Bombshells, the Bromances and a little bit of Naughty Naughty! It’s the ‘Love Island’ you love, just with a different accent. Bring it on!"
The Australian series – which first aired in 2018 with presenter Sophie Monk – follows the same format as the UK with eight singletons entering a luxury villa in Majorca for almost two months to find love and win a cash prize of $50,000 (£27,000).
The show’s first run featured former ‘Big Brother’ housemate John James Parton, who took part in the eleventh series – the last to be shown on Channel 4 – and struck up a romance with eventual winner Josie Gibson, although they split eight months later when he moved back to Australia.
Meanwhile, the decision to air the new version of ‘Love Island’ comes after the 2020 UK version – which is hosted by Laura Whitmore – was cancelled as the showrunners admitted that it would be "logistically impossible" to go ahead with filming.
Kevin Lygo, the head of studios at the company, said: "What signal might it be sending out if we’re doing a show where everybody is crammed together, slavering over each other, and the rest of the world is told ‘Don’t go near anyone in the park’?
"I’m a little uneasy about that, so we will make a decision in a proper way quite soon."