And yet that\u2019s exactly what happened. Seven years on from its debut in 2015, the <\/span>start of new season of <\/span>Love Island<\/span><\/a> now heralds the beginning of British summer time. When you hear that Iain Stirling voiceover, you know it\u2019s time to put your social life on hold for two months in order to watch a new cohort of unfeasibly attractive contestants fall in and out of love (and\/or lust) with one another.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The <\/span>format has been tweaked a little since that first season<\/span><\/a> (which culminated in a bizarre fake wedding ceremony, surely the kiss of death for any burgeoning relationship, that was mercifully ditched for future iterations of the show) but the Love Island blueprint remains simple, addictive and, as critics have pointed out, extremely heteronormative. A group of five girls and five guys choose to couple up with one another, aiming to work out whether or not they have a genuine connection; just when things seem to be going smoothly, a \u201cbombshell\u201d contestant arrives to stir things up. At stake is a \u00a350,000 cash prize and, you know, the promise of long-lasting love.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Though cynics might point out that the show\u2019s hit rate is a little patchy when it comes to enduring romances, there are a handful of <\/span>Love Island couples who are still together,<\/span><\/a> managing to keep the spark alive after the cameras stopped rolling\u00a0 \u2014 there have been Love Island weddings (real ones) and Love Island babies, too. And even if you\u2019re not fussed by the soppier stuff, the series has delivered some of the most jaw-dropping drama and most hilarious moments in reality TV history.<\/span><\/p>\n Not all seasons of Love Island were created equal, though. From the ones we\u2019d rather forget (and indeed, the ones so dull we can barely remember them) to the solid gold classics, here\u2019s our definitive ranking. It is what it is.<\/span><\/p> When ITV bosses announced the news that a winter edition of Love Island would be airing on ITV2, filmed for the first time in a swanky villa in Cape Town, South Africa, it seemed like a brilliant idea. Yet when the time came for the sixth season to begin, with Laura Whitmore installed as the new presenter, it felt too soon: after all, it was only five months since we\u2019d said goodbye to the last cohort of islanders. It also turned out that watching a bunch of genetically blessed 20-somethings ask each other to define their \u201ctype on paper\u201d while lazing around a swimming pool wasn\u2019t exactly the most appealing viewing material in the depths of January, when the majority of the nation was hibernating in layers of blankets, eating crisps on the sofa in a post Christmas-haze.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The sixth season saw producers double down on their attempts to cast celebrity-adjacent islanders, with Rochelle Humes\u2019 half-sister Sophie and Lewis Capaldi\u2019s ex-girlfriend Paige Turley, a former Britain\u2019s Got Talent hopeful herself, among the contestants. Turley would go on to win the series with partner Finn Tapp (they\u2019re still together today), with Luke Trotman and Siannise Fudge \u2014 who pulled off an impressive dance routine in the obligatory talent show episode, which would stand them in good stead for future TikToks \u2014 as runners up. However, much of the magic of early seasons was missing in action, and winter Love Island seemed to prove that you definitely can have too much of a good thing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Still, this was the season that gave us a deadpan Shaughna Phillips saying \u201ccongrats, hun\u201d to Callum Jones after he returned from Casa Amor with new love interest Molly Smith, and for that, we\u2019re forever grateful. Plus, ITV recently announced that <\/span>the winter version of the show will be back on our screens<\/span><\/a> at the start of 2023. Perhaps it\u2019s worth a second chance after all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When season 1 of Love Island landed on ITV2 in the summer of 2015 with little fanfare, drawing in an average of around 570,000 viewers per episode, few could have predicted that the show would go on to become such a runaway success, launching careers and filling endless newspaper columns \u2014 after all, it was just a reboot of an early \u201800s reality format that many viewers had forgotten about.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Watching these old episodes now, there is a pretty dramatic contrast in production values (you can tell it was filmed before the show had its pick of brand partnerships and advertising deals) and none of the couples even seem that fussed by one another, so the stakes feel spectacularly low, although season 1 did feature Love Island\u2019s only proposal to date. One month into their relationship, Jon Clark got down on one knee to ask Hannah Elizabeth to marry him (their romance didn\u2019t last for long after the show ended, and they never made it down the aisle).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Although the format feels a bit rough around the edges, it\u2019s fun to see challenges which have gone on to become Love Island classics (such as the notorious fake baby episode, which has featured in every season since) in their early forms, while getting Calum Best to take the boys on a night out in Magaluf was a nice nod to Celebrity Love Island. Without this slightly dud debut season, we wouldn\u2019t have any of the brilliant TV moments mentioned in this ranking \u2014 thank goodness the ITV execs decided to take a chance on Love Island after this undeniably shaky start. <\/span><\/p>\n When Love Island returned to our screens after an 18 month pandemic-imposed hiatus (remember all the rumours suggesting the show would have to move from Mallorca to, say, Anglesey or the Isle of Wight to get around the COVID-imposed travel restrictions?) expectations for season 7 were high. Following months of successive lockdowns, when single people were forced to channel their inner Jane Austen characters and embark on endless socially distanced walks if they wanted to go on a date, surely the seventh cohort of islanders would be ready to lay it on Factor 50 thick with their fellow beautiful people? Sadly, the season didn\u2019t quite live up to our hopes, and instead of coming back stronger, the Love Island format ended up feeling a little tired and frayed at the edges, like a fast-fashion bikini that\u2019s been put through the spin cycle one too many times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Yes, there were a handful of truly memorable couples, most notably Chloe Burrows and Toby Aromolaran, with their perfectly matched chaotic energy, plus the unbreakable bond between day one besties Liberty Poole and Kaz Kamwi, and a few good memes (Millie Court playing her keyboard). The damp squib of an ending, however, when Millie and Liam Reardon won the \u00a350,000 prize after she forgave him for snogging another girl over at Casa Amor, summed up a disappointing year for the show.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When there was genuine drama, it often made for slightly uncomfortable viewing, not least in the aftermath of the infamous \u2018movie night\u2019 episode, when contestant Faye Winters yelled at Teddy Soares after watching footage of him confessing that he was attracted to one of the Casa Amor girls. The incident prompted almost 25,000 viewer complaints to Ofcom, a record for the show.<\/span><\/p>\n By 2018, Love Island was a fully fledged social phenomenon, drawing in millions of viewers and firmly established as the most talked-about British reality show since Big Brother\u2019s early \u201800s glory days. From the moment that Caroline Flack ushered them into the villa, it was clear that this cast of islanders had the potential for TV gold, and they delivered from day one, from Hayley Hughes, who pondered whether Brexit would result in the culling of Britain\u2019s trees, to the perpetually sunburned Dr Alex, who always looked slightly shell shocked by the events that were unfolding in front of him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On the opposite end of the cracking on spectrum to Alex, we had <\/span>Adam Collard<\/span><\/a>, who left a trail of chaos in his wake, and Megan Barton Hanson, an all-time top tier Islander who did the same and then some, sacking off Eyal Booker (using the immortal line \u201cyou\u2019re not exactly Jim Carrey\u201d) to crack on with Wes Nelson, despite the fact that he seemed to be happily coupled up with Laura Anderson at the time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What about the actual romances? Jack Fincham and Dani Dyer, daughter of Danny, coupled up on day one and proceeded to become the nation\u2019s sweethearts. Even an attempt on the part of the show\u2019s producers to stir things up couldn\u2019t break them: Jack\u2019s former girlfriend turned up for Casa Amor, and back at the villa, Dani watched a video showing the exes together. Her tears were genuinely heartbreaking (and prompted thousands of Ofcom complaints) but once that misunderstanding had been cleared up, she and Jack were back on track, and when the season came to an end, their win seemed inevitable. <\/span><\/p>\n At this point in the show\u2019s life cycle, Love Island contestants were well aware of the potential profile \u2014 and the lucrative #spon opportunities \u2014 that might come with a successful stint in the villa, meaning that there was less bad behaviour and the islanders\u2019 antics were pretty PG compared to, say, the chaos of season 2. Case in point? There was a whole story arc devoted to a cuddly elephant, when Tommy Fury babysat Molly Mae Hague\u2019s toy Elly Belly while she was in Casa Amor. And yet despite the fact that swathes of the guys and girls clearly had one eye on a future Boohoo deal or social media stardom, <\/span>season 5<\/span><\/a> deserves its place in the Love Island hall of fame for the sheer quantity of quotable moments.<\/span><\/p>\n Michael Griffiths yelling that his former love interest Amber Gill was \u201cchaldish\u201d for daring to call out his behaviour? Season 5. Professional dancer and wannabe barista Curtis Pritchard claiming that he \u201calso want[s] to be the person that gets up and makes everyone a coffee so everyone\u2019s ready for the morning\u201d when girlfriend Amy Hart asked him why he wasn\u2019t showing her any affection? Also season 5, Ovie Soko shouting \u201cMessage!\u201d instead of \u201cI\u2019ve got a text\u201d? You know the drill.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This was also the year that Maura Higgins entered the pantheon of legendary Love Island bombshells (see also: Megan Barton Hanson), creating unmissable television from the moment she entered the villa and had to pretend to enjoy a toxic cheese sandwich cooked up by Tommy Fury, straight out of the Fyre Festival recipe book. And though their romance didn\u2019t last for long in \u2018the outside world\u2019, has there ever been a more satisfying win than Amber\u2019s victory, secured just days after coupling up with new boy Greg? It was the ultimate rebound. <\/span><\/p>\n A dramatic return to form after the lacklustre and perfunctory seventh season, this year\u2019s competition is already one of the all time great series of Love Island, despite an inauspicious start that focused far too heavily on <\/span>Gemma Owen<\/span><\/a>, who, as the daughter of former football star Michael, fulfilled the celebrity offspring quota this time around.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Once the producers realised that we\u2019d tuned in for Love Island, not Gemma Island, things got far more compelling. We have one woman to thank for that rapid uptick in quality, and her name is <\/span>Ekin-Su <\/span>C\u00fclc\u00fclo\u011flu<\/span><\/a>. The spiritual successor of Megan Barton Hanson, this one-woman whirlwind was unafraid to, as the time-honoured Love Island phrase goes, step on toes when she arrived in the villa on day three. First she set her sights on <\/span>Davide Sanclimenti<\/span><\/a> (who was coupled up with Gemma at the time), then decided to pursue a clandestine romance with new arrival <\/span>Jay Younger<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Going against the approved courtship ritual of \u2018pulling Jay for a chat\u2019 in full view of her fellow islanders, she invited him to join her on the terrace for a secret rendez-vous, crawling on all fours <\/span>\u2014 wearing a body-con dress and stiletto heels \u2014 to avoid prying eyes. When Davide worked out what had been going on, his Italian-accented cries of \u201cLiar! Actress!\u201d reverberated around the villa, providing us with more entertainment than the entirety of season 7 put together. After that explosive row, though, they\u2019ve been on a sworn-enemies-to-true-love trajectory that\u2019s straight out of a rom-com, but their fiery temperaments mean that each new day in the villa could throw things off kilter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The fallout from Casa Amor caused even more carnage than usual, after the boys decided to act like they were on a post-sixth form trip to Zante, and with only a handful of settled couples in the villa,<\/span>\u00a0there\u2019s been a sense of unpredictability in the air that has made for addictive viewing. The decision to introduce season 4\u2019s Adam Collard, marking the first time that a former islander has cropped up in another season, has been a masterstroke so far, too \u2014 and will surely stir up interest in a potential <\/span>all-stars version of Love Island<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n The second season of Love Island was pure, unadulterated chaos, and we wouldn\u2019t have had it any other way. Looking back, the 2016 islanders\u2019 antics make even the most scandalous goings-on in future series seem incredibly tame. Perhaps it seemed so explosive because our expectations were so low after a relatively dull first season. For better and worse, it\u2019s hard to see the villa ever being this dramatic (or as smoky \u2014 these were the days before the producers cracked down on smoking on camera) again.<\/span><\/p>\n The biggest story of the series came when Zara Holland was stripped of her Miss Great Britain title shortly after spending a night in the Hideaway with Alex Bowen (let\u2019s just say the show\u2019s sex scenes were a bit more explicit back in the day) sparking a conversation about slut-shaming and sexual double standards back in the UK. Other unforgettable moments included Malin Andersson returning to the villa to confront a gobsmacked Terry Walsh, who\u2019d proceeded to crack on with Emma Jane Woodham after her departure, despite promising to wait for her on the outside, and Malia Arkian\u2019s zero to 180 row with Kady McDermott, which resulted in the former being booted out of the villa.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In terms of long-term love, this season is one of the most successful. After coupling up on the first day, eventual winners Cara De La Hoyde and Nathan Massey went on to get married and have two children, while Olivia Buckland and Alex tied the knot a couple of years after appearing on the show and recently welcomed their first child. <\/span><\/p>\n When it comes to Love Island seasons, this one is certainly the best all-rounder. In 2017, the show was in a real sweet spot, enjoying great ratings after the unexpected success of season 2, but not yet the pop culture juggernaut it would become. Contestants were prepared to act out in the name of finding love, and were less guarded than their successors, because they weren\u2019t necessarily expecting to fly back from Mallorca to nationwide fame.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A brand new villa, decked out with neon lights and personalised water bottles, set the stage for the action, and thanks to producers\u2019 decision to cast former rapper Marcel Somerville, the catchphrase \u201cI used to be in Blazin\u2019 Squad\u201d soon cropped up in every conversation (and adorned countless Primark t-shirts). His musical skills would be put to good use when Chris Hughes and Kem Cetinay, aka the show\u2019s best ever bromance, decided they wanted to compose a rap of their own.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Season 3 was crammed full of classic islanders, from no-nonsense Olivia Attwood, who would end the show in third place with Chris, to Theo \u201cIf Tyla really liked Jonny she should go as well\u201d Campbell to Camilla Thurlow, the softly-spoken bomb disposal expert who ended up schooling the aforementioned Jonny Mitchell in the basic tenets of feminism. After Camilla endured a string of disappointing dates and friendship couples, the nation breathed a collective sigh of relief when she hit it off with model Jamie Jewitt (they\u2019ve since got married, and have a baby daughter).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This was the first season to introduce the now-infamous Casa Amor twist halfway through, leaving the unsuspecting islanders genuinely shocked. Casa Amor would stretch some previously solid relationships, including Kem\u2019s romance with Amber Davies, though the couple would eventually ditch their new Casa partners and go on to win. Romance aside, the islanders seemed to be having the time of their lives, just like a bunch of beautiful people on a free holiday should be \u2014 for sheer enjoyability, this was a season that remains unmatched.<\/span><\/p>\n Love Island airs at 9pm nightly on ITV2 and ITV Hub. Episodes are available the following morning on BritBox \u2013 you can sign up for a\u00a07-day free trial<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong>If you\u2019re looking for more to watch, check out our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>. Visit our\u00a0Entertainment<\/a>\u00a0hub for all the latest news.<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0and get the next 12 issues for only \u00a31. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a>\u00a0with Jane Garvey.<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Katie Rosseinsky Published: Friday, 29 July 2022 at 12:00 am When ITV announced a reboot of \u201800s reality TV relic Celebrity Love Island, which would ditch the famous people to focus on a group of ordinary(ish) singles attempting to find \u2018the one\u2019 over the course of a hot Mallorcan summer, no one expected that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":19492,"template":"","categories":[5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/the-best-love-island-season-to-date-and-no-its-not-season-4.jpg",1490,993,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/the-best-love-island-season-to-date-and-no-its-not-season-4-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/the-best-love-island-season-to-date-and-no-its-not-season-4-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/the-best-love-island-season-to-date-and-no-its-not-season-4-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/the-best-love-island-season-to-date-and-no-its-not-season-4-1024x682.jpg",800,533,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/the-best-love-island-season-to-date-and-no-its-not-season-4.jpg",1490,993,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/07\/the-best-love-island-season-to-date-and-no-its-not-season-4.jpg",1490,993,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Katie Rosseinsky Published: Friday, 29 July 2022 at 12:00 am When ITV announced a reboot of \u201800s reality TV relic Celebrity Love Island, which would ditch the famous people to focus on a group of ordinary(ish) singles attempting to find \u2018the one\u2019 over the course of a hot Mallorcan summer, no one expected that…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/19491"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}8. Season 6 (2020)<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2020\/02\/love_island_sr6_3007-18b69f6-e1582628129257.jpg?quality=90&resize=603%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>7. Season 1 (2015)<\/b><\/h2>\n
6. Season 7 (2021)<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/06\/love-island-chloe-burrows-b33d97f.png?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>5. Season 4 (2018)<\/b><\/h2>\n
4. Season 5 (2019)<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2019\/07\/loveislandmollyandtommy-0aef973.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>3. Season 8 (2022)<\/b><\/h2>\n
2. Season 2 (2016)<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2018\/07\/ZaraHolland-bb53fc7.png?quality=90&resize=620%2C407"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n1. Season 3 (2017)<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/06\/olivia-attwood-love-island-c0edb0a.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"