The news follows Pop Sugar<\/a>\u2018s recent interview with the Love Island 2022 winner, in which she said that she was approached to replace Laura Whitmore on the reality show, but turned it down.<\/p>\n \u201cI did get offered,\u201d she told the publication. \u201cI would\u2019ve loved to do it, but I can\u2019t at the minute because of how busy I am. And I said I\u2019m not ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n However, RadioTimes.com<\/strong> understands that C\u00fclc\u00fcloglu was not asked to take on the ITV2 job, with Maya Jama being the show\u2019s first pick.<\/p>\n On Ekin-Su\u2019s recent comments, a Love Island show insider said: \u201cThis is untrue. Maya was the first choice for host.\u201d<\/p>\n C\u00fclc\u00fcloglu, who won the latest season of Love Island with her boyfriend Davide Sanclimenti<\/a>, also said that she didn\u2019t want to take on the job as she felt she wasn\u2019t \u201cready for it\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI want proper training. I\u2019ve done presenting before, but not to the level of Laura Whitmore,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Whitmore hosted Love Island for three seasons before leaving after this summer\u2019s 2022 shows<\/a>, stating in August that there were \u201ccertain elements of the show\u201d that she found \u201cvery difficult\u201d to deal with, such as \u201cflying back and forth to South Africa\u201d.<\/p>\n Last week, ITV2 confirmed that Maya Jama would be the next host<\/a> of the popular dating show ahead of its winter season<\/a>, with the former BBC Radio 1 host saying that she\u2019s always been \u201csuch as massive Love Island fan\u201d.<\/p>\n On Maya Jama\u2019s appointment as the next host, Ekin-Su said: \u201cShe\u2019s funny, intelligent, smart, beautiful. ITV have made a good choice with picking her, I think.\u201d<\/p> Earlier this month, Ekin-Su announced that she would be joining the celebrity line-up of Dancing on Ice 2023<\/a> alongside the likes of Patsy Palmer<\/a> and Mollie Gallagher<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Love Island winner will be back on ITV2 with her Italian beau for their travel show Ekin-Su & Davide: Homecomings<\/a>, which will see them head abroad to their respective homes.<\/p>\n Love Island will return to ITV2 and ITVX early 2023. If you\u2019re looking for something 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 View From My Sofa podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Lauren Morris Published: Tuesday, 18 October 2022 at 12:00 am Love Island\u2019s incoming host Maya Jama was the first choice for the role, RadioTimes.com understands, as a show insider reveals that Ekin-Su C\u00fclc\u00fcloglu wasn\u2019t approached for the presenting gig. The news follows Pop Sugar\u2018s recent interview with the Love Island 2022 winner, in which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":24038,"template":"","categories":[5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/10\/ekin-su-wasnt-offered-love-island-hosting-job-maya-jama-was-first-pick.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/10\/ekin-su-wasnt-offered-love-island-hosting-job-maya-jama-was-first-pick-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/10\/ekin-su-wasnt-offered-love-island-hosting-job-maya-jama-was-first-pick-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/10\/ekin-su-wasnt-offered-love-island-hosting-job-maya-jama-was-first-pick.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/10\/ekin-su-wasnt-offered-love-island-hosting-job-maya-jama-was-first-pick.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/10\/ekin-su-wasnt-offered-love-island-hosting-job-maya-jama-was-first-pick.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/10\/ekin-su-wasnt-offered-love-island-hosting-job-maya-jama-was-first-pick.jpg",620,413,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 Lauren Morris Published: Tuesday, 18 October 2022 at 12:00 am Love Island\u2019s incoming host Maya Jama was the first choice for the role, RadioTimes.com understands, as a show insider reveals that Ekin-Su C\u00fclc\u00fcloglu wasn\u2019t approached for the presenting gig. The news follows Pop Sugar\u2018s recent interview with the Love Island 2022 winner, in which…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/24037"}],"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\/24038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/08\/Love-Island-reunion-da332af.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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