Format

Love Island, produced by ITV Studios Entertainment and Motion Content Group, has been a ratings smash for the UK commercial broadcaster but Lygo admitted there were big questions over its planned summer run.

“We are right now approaching the moment where we have to look if it is feasible,” he said on an online controller session organised by the Edinburgh TV Festival, during which he questioned the possibility of being able to send hundreds of staff to the Spanish island of Mallorca, where the show is shot.

“In six weeks, our production people would need to be going to [the set on] Mallorca – is that really viable and feasible now?” he said. “Will Mallorca open their doors to hundreds of production people, will there be quarantine?

Lygo admitted the decision would have “a big commercial impact” on the broadcaster, which has been hit hard by the advertising slump caused by Covid-19. He also said producers had tentatively explored shooting the UK version in Cornwall, but decided against it because it “wouldn’t have been the same show.”

Love Island has become a key fixture for ITV and was extended to run twice a year last summer. The show and its broadcaster have, however, faced criticism for failing to support those working on the programme, after host Caroline Flack and two former contestants reportedly committed suicide. ITV subsequently revamped its aftercare support for those working on the series.

The future of fellow ITV reality show I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, which airs in winter, is also unclear but Lygo said it was proceeding “in the normal way” at present.