We thought this day would never come, but ITV is reportedly set to launch a spin-off series of its hit reality dating competition show.
And this time, it’s apparently going to feature “middle-aged” contestants with “normal bodies”.
After Love Island fans have been calling out for wider body representation and an older cast during this year’s season of the show more than ever before, reports in The Sun this week are finally suggesting that ITV is planning a mature spin-off series which will be set in a retreat, and filming is apparently meant to start later this year.
The spin-off series is said to have the working title ‘Your Mum, My Dad’, and will feature contestants’ children trying to help their parents find romance.
“Times change and the current generation in their 40s and 50s still care about how they look, are fit and healthy, into fashion and are ready to let their hair down,” a source told The Sun.
“This show will give those who settled down young a second chance at love while they still feel in their prime.”
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ITV is reportedly planning a “middle-aged” Love Island spin-off series to air in 2023 / Credit: ITV
The source also suggested that contestants in the proposed new mature series may offer something that the main Love Island series hasn’t achieved – “intelligent conversation”
“They know their minds, will be capable of intelligent conversation, and are likely to be much more adventurous.
“All ingredients regular Love Island sometimes lacks.”
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The topic of age has been a significant talking point for Love Island fans right from the start this year, especially after it was confirmed that 19-year-old Gemma Owen, daughter of former professional footballer Michael Owen, would be a contestant – making her one of the youngest to take part in the show’s history.
The spin-off will feature contestants’ children trying to help their parents find romance / Credit: ITV
Her entry sparked numerous online conversations about whether there should be a minimum age to enter the villa, and whether people are emotionally mature enough for the Love Island experience at that formative time in their lives.
The oldest contestants on this year’s series appear to be current contestant Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu at 27-years-old, and Jay Younger and Charlie Radnedge, who were both 28 and have since been dumped from the Island.
While producers are declining to confirm whether there is some truth to the reports, if this “middle-aged” spin-off series does become a reality, ITV hopes it will begin airing in 2023.
Featured Image – ITV
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TikTok star turned pop star Addison Rae announces gig in Manchester
Thomas Melia
Viral TikTok star and now recording artist, Addison Rae, has announced her first-everheadline European tour, where she’ll be paying Manchester a visit, and tickets go on sale this week.
After launching into the music scene back in 2021 with pure pop single, ‘Obsessed’, Addison made her pop star intentions very clear.
Since then, Addison has gone on to work with high-profile artists such as Charli XCX, who appears as a feature on track ‘2 Die 4’ taken from her first EP, ‘AR’.
Addison also contributed to the inescapable phenomenon of last year that was ‘Brat Summer’, appearing on the aforementioned A-list artist’s Brat remix album, on a reworking of the hit ‘Von Dutch’.
With more than 88.5 million followers on TikTok alone and north of 35 million on Instagram, it goes without saying that her legions of ‘Sunraes’ (yes, a real term used by some in the community) will be lining up to get tickets to her UK tour dates.
Now the singer is ready to take the world by storm, confirming a US and European tour following the release of her debut album, simply titled Addison.
This LP, which features standouts like smash single ‘Diet Pepsi’, ‘Aquamarine’ and ‘Fame Is A Gun’, has been met with rave reviews from fans and critics alike.
The fledgling 24-year-old American-born pop star is a big fan of the UK, so much so that one of the singles from this very debut album, ‘Headphones On’, includes a music video dedicated to frozen food retailer Iceland.
See for yourself…
Addison Rae is set to bring ‘The Addison Tour’ – her first on the continent and here in Britain and Ireland – to Manchester Academy on 30 August, with general admission going on sale this Friday, 20 June.
So, if you’re a fan, get ready to grab yours HERE.
Featured Images – Pandora (screenshot via YouTube) Press shots via Dillon Matthew (supplied)
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More than half of Brits agree that dating apps should let you filter by height
Emily Sergeant
A new survey has revealed that more than half of Brits agree that dating apps should let you filter people by height.
There’s no two ways about it, to some people, size matters… and by ‘size’ we mean height.
If you haven’t heard the news or seen the ongoing discourse on social media yet, dating app Tinder caused a bit of a stir when it announced last week that it would be starting to let its users filter their potential matches by height – which many have been quick to brand as ‘disadvantaging’ for those who are considered.
More than half of Brits agree that dating apps should let you filter by height / Credit: Good Faces Agency (via Unsplash)
Despite this, it seems men and women are both in agreement, as a new YouGov survey has revealed that 56% of men and 55% of women think that dating apps should allow people to decide what heights are suitable for them.
In fact, the number of men (23%) disagreeing with this is actually slightly lower than the number of women (29%), even though it’s seen as more of a disadvantage to men.
While height has been the big talking point in recent days, there’s also a couple of other factors included in the YouGov survey, and it’s these that appear to have divided the public more in their responses.
Should dating apps let users filter by height? Most women say yes – and so do most men
Women: 55% say yes Men: 56% yes
Women who have ever used dating apps: 67% yes Men who have ever used dating apps: 62% yes
Just over half (51%) of men who responded to the survey support allowing dating app users to filter by how heavy their potential partner is, while this figure falls to just 36% among women, and among the younger age group of 18-29 year olds, 68% of women say they are opposed to it.
Men in that age group are also the most likely to be against weight filtering too, coming in at a 38% opposition, but nevertheless, 51% of young men still do tend to think it’s a legitimate metric for choosing potential partners.
When it comes to other attributes, the public tend to say that dating apps should allow users to filter people by their education level at 48%, but not by their income, which only 29% see as appropriate.
Emily Sergeant -
22nd July 2022 
