Davina McCall Is Confirmed to Host New "Love Island" for "Grown-Ups" Dating Show
Winter "Love Island" might be over and Maya Jama may have hung her her "Love Island" looks for now, but there's a new reality TV show about to become your latest obsession. Yes, a middle-aged "Love Island" has officially been confirmed - and Davina McCall will be the host.
ITV confirmed that the new show, called "The Romance Retreat", will be coming to our screens later this year, and TV star McCall made the announcement on her Instagram, declaring she'd "manifested" the job. " I'll be hosting a brand NEW grown up dating series for ITV1 !! ❤️ This is a show for single parents who have lived a life , have stories to tell about their dating pasts and deserve another chance at love and I'm gonna help you," she wrote on her post on 16 March.
The former "Big Brother" presenter had put the show premise out into the universe when speaking on the "Diary of a CEO" podcast recently. "I could fill a villa in Love Island with middle-aged people with the best back stories you have ever heard in your life. They've lived a life - they're widows, they're people who have been through horrific divorces. They are people who have split up with somebody and decided they want to try going out with somebody the same sex as them. They're like interesting people. I'd watch that show," the 55-year-old said. And now the dream is a reality.
According to the ITV website, applications are now open for the reality series, which will be called "The Romance Retreat", with the closing date on Friday, 31 March. The TV channel adds, "ITV1 are looking for vibrant single parents from across the UK who are in search of love, for a brand new dating show! The is the ONLY dating show where single parents can search for love, by spending time in a luxury retreat, where all the parents have been nominated by their grown up children."
"The Romance Retreat" advert also includes a photo of a sun-drenched villa in an undisclosed location so it looks as though the "Love Island" premise will be replicated. Could we have a Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury 2.0 in our midst? We'll have to wait and see. But single parents nominated by their offspring to help them have another chance at love feels like the reality show we've been missing.