The seventh series of Love Island began broadcasting on 28 June 2021 and was hosted by Laura Whitmore on ITV2. Iain Stirling returned to narrate the series. The series was originally planned to air in the summer of 2020, but was postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Singer Mabel made a cameo appearance at a Spotify party in the villa performing some of her hits including her new single "Let Them Know".[1]
On 23 August 2021, the series was won by Liam Reardon and Millie Court with 42.02% of the final vote, becoming the first couple of late entrants to win a series. Chloe Burrows and Toby Aromolaran finished as runners-up.[2][3][4] This series was watched by an average of 4.17 million viewers which includes catch up figures.
Production
During the final of the previous series on 23 February 2020, it was confirmed that Love Island would return for a seventh series due to air later in the year. However, on 4 May 2020, Love Island announced the cancellation of the summer 2020 show due to the COVID-19 pandemic."[5] It was later confirmed that the show would not be airing a winter version of the series in 2021 due to uncertainties regarding the pandemic and international travel.
On 4 March 2021, ITV confirmed that the show would return in the summer after an 18-month hiatus.[6] In April 2021, during the application process, it was reported that LGBT contestants were being encouraged to apply for the first time, via dating app Tinder, however in June, ITV commissioner Amanda Stavri stated that the inclusion of LGBT contestants presents "logistical difficulties".[7][8] The first 10-second trailer for the series aired on 29 May 2021 featuring presenter Laura Whitmore breaking a heart-shaped fire alarm with a hammer, followed by the tagline "This is not a drill".[9] A full length trailer was released on 5 June 2021.[10]
On 16 June 2021, ITV released details of its duty of care protocols for the new series, with detailed welfare plans in place to support participants before, during and after filming.[11][12] Some of the episodes in this series were aired outside of the usual 9pm timeslot due to Euro 2020.[citation needed]
Islanders
The Islanders for the seventh series were released on 21 June 2021, just one week before the launch.[13][14] The series was won by Liam Reardon and Millie Court.[15]
^Note 1 : Chloe arrived after the coupling on Day 1, but was told she would be able to steal a boy for herself on Day 2. She picked Aaron F, leaving Shannon single and dumped.
^Note 2 : Rachel arrived after the coupling on Day 5, and was told she had 24 hours to choose between the two single islanders, Brad and Chuggs. She picked Brad, leaving Chuggs single and dumped.
^Note 3 : Original Islanders were only given the option to remain in their current couple, or re-couple with one of the new Islanders.
Weekly summary
The main events in the Love Island villa are summarised in the table below.
Week 1
Entrances
On Day 1, Aaron F, Brad, Chloe, Faye, Hugo, Jake, Kaz, Liberty, Shannon, Sharon and Toby entered the villa.
On Day 1, the Islanders coupled up for the first time. After all of the girls entered, the boys were asked to choose a girl to pair up with. Faye coupled up with Brad, Kaz paired up with Toby, Liberty with Jake, Shannon with Aaron F and Sharon with Hugo.[52]
On Day 2, Chloe, who entered after the coupling, had to steal one boy for herself. She chose Aaron F, leaving Shannon single.[53]
On Day 5, the islanders re-coupled. This time it was the girls who had to pick a boy to pair up with. Kaz and Toby, and Liberty and Jake remained together, while Sharon chose Aaron F, Faye picked Liam, and Chloe coupled with Hugo, leaving Brad and Chuggs single. New islander Rachel then entered the villa and was told she would couple up with one of them.
Challenges
On Day 2, the girls and the boys competed against each other in "Horny Devils", in which they had to guess which islander a fact was about. To make their guess they had to kiss that islander.
Dates
On Day 3, Kaz and Toby left the villa to go on their first date.
On Day 4, the public voted for who they wanted new boys Chuggs and Liam to go on dates with. They picked Sharon to date Chuggs, and Faye to date Liam.
Exits
On Day 2, following Chloe's decision to couple up with Aaron F, Shannon was left single and dumped from the island.[54]
Week 2
Entrances
On Day 9, Lucinda and Millie entered the villa.[55]
On Day 6, Rachel had to couple up with either Brad or Chuggs, the two single islanders. She chose Brad.[57]
Challenges
On Day 6, the boys competed in "Undercover Lover" where they had to rescue the girl in their couple and then make them a cocktail while lying on a vibrating machine. The girls chose Brad as the winner.
On Day 8, the islanders competed in a couple's quiz, hosted by Chloe and Hugo, where they had to answer questions about the person they are coupled up with.[58]
On Day 11, the girls competed in "Line of Booty", in which they had to perform a strip tease dressed as a police officer and then interrogate a boy of their choice by guessing what object they had hidden down their shorts and then kissing them before putting them in jail. The boys chose Kaz as the winner.
Dates
On Day 8, all of the couples had a breakfast date in the garden.[59]
On Day 9, new Islanders Lucinda and Millie were asked to choose three other Islanders to take on dates with each of them preparing a starter, a main course and a dessert. Lucinda chose Brad, Hugo, and Aaron F while Millie picked Aaron F, Liam, and Hugo.[60]
On Day 12, Liberty and Jake went on their first date.
On Day 12, the islanders chose four girls to speed-date new boy Teddy. They chose Kaz, Rachel, Sharon and Faye.
Exits
On Day 6, following Rachel's decision to couple up with Brad, Chuggs remained the only single islander and was therefore dumped.[61]
On Day 14, the islanders recoupled. This time it was the boys turn to pick which girl they wanted to couple up with. Jake and Liberty remained together, while Aaron F picked Kaz, Brad chose Lucinda, Hugo went with Sharon, Liam coupled up with Millie, Teddy paired with Faye, and Toby picked Chloe. With Rachel being the only single islander, she was dumped.[63]
On Day 19, the islanders recoupled. As new islanders, AJ and Danny had first pick, and chose Hugo and Lucinda respectively. It was then down to the remaining boys to pick a girl to couple up with. Jake and Liberty, Aaron F and Kaz, Liam and Millie, Teddy and Faye, and Toby and Chloe all remained together, leaving Sharon single and dumped.
Challenges
On Day 15, the couples took part in "Spit the Roast" where they had to transfer food to each other using just their mouths.[64][65]
On Day 17, the boys and girls went head-to-head in "Stags vs Hens" in a series of Stag and Hen do games. As the boys won the challenge, they were rewarded with a new female islander.
Dates
On Day 16, Brad and Lucinda left the villa to go on their first date.
On Day 18, before entering the villa, new boy Danny chose two girls to take on dates. He picked Kaz and Sharon.
Exits
On Day 14, Rachel was dumped from the island after failing to couple up.[63]
On Day 16, after receiving the fewest public votes, Brad and Lucinda then had to decide amongst themselves which one of them should be dumped. They chose Brad.[66]
On Day 19, Sharon was dumped from the island after failing to couple up.
Week 4
Entrances
On Day 23, Abigail, Georgia and Tyler entered the villa.[67]
Coupling
On Day 25, the islanders recoupled. This time it was the boys choosing which girl they'd like to be coupled up with. Jake and Liberty, Liam and Millie, and Teddy and Faye remained together, while Aaron F picked Lucinda, Hugo chose Chloe, Toby went for Abigail, and Tyler coupled up with Kaz. As Georgia was the only single islander, she was dumped.
Challenges
On Day 21, the islanders took part in "Cattitude" in a game of cat and mouse, where the girls became the cats and the boys became the mice. The girls had to take their coupled boy and put them in a giant mouse trap.
On Day 22, the islanders competed in the "Snog, Marry, Pie" challenge where each islander had to snog, marry and pie an islander of the opposite gender.[68]
Dates
On Day 23, Faye and Teddy left the villa to go on a date.
On Day 26, Liam and Millie left the villa to go on their first date.
Exits
On Day 23, after receiving the fewest public votes, AJ, Chloe and Lucinda, and Danny, Teddy and Toby were in danger of being dumped. The remaining Islanders had to choose one boy and one girl to dump from the island. The boys chose AJ, while the girls chose Danny.
On Day 25, Georgia was dumped from the island after failing to couple up.
Week 5
Entrances
On Day 29, Dale, Harry, Jack, Matthew, Medhy and Sam entered the Main Villa, while Amy, Clarisse, Kaila, Lillie, Mary and Salma entered Casa Amor.
Coupling
On Day 32, the original Islanders were told that they would be re-coupling. They were only given the option to remain in their current couple or to choose one of the new Islanders. However, as the boys and the girls were living in separate villas, they were not aware of what the other one chose. If one decided to re-couple and the other did not, then they would be single but still remain on the island. If both re-coupled then they would both remain in the villa with their new partner, and any remaining single new islanders would be dumped. Jake and Liberty, and Liam and Millie remained together, while Chloe picked Dale, Faye went with Sam, Hugo coupled with Amy, Kaz decided on Matthew, Toby picked Mary, and Tyler went with Clarisse. As Abigail and Teddy's original partners failed to couple with them, they remained single. The new single islanders were then dumped from the villa.
Challenges
On Day 28, the islanders split into two teams and competed against each other in a number of sports day events.[69]
On Day 30, the Main Villa and Casa Amor competed in "Raunchy Races" where they had to complete a certain task quicker than the other villa. The game resulted in a draw and therefore both villas won a party for that evening.
Exits
On Day 28, the public voted for their favourite couple. As Aaron F and Lucinda received the fewest votes, they were dumped from the island.
On Day 32, new islanders Harry, Jack, Kaila, Lillie, Medhy and Salma were dumped from the island after failing to couple up.
Week 6
Coupling
On Day 37, the islanders recoupled. This time it was the girls choosing which boy they'd like to be coupled up with. Amy and Hugo, Clarisse and Tyler, Jake and Liberty, Kaz and Matthew, and Liam and Millie all remained together, while Abigail chose Dale, Chloe reunited with Toby, Faye coupled up with Teddy, and Mary picked Sam.
Challenges
On Day 38, the couples took part in "Playing the Field". The girls were dressed as cheerleaders, while the boys were dressed as American football players. In the first round, the boys had to defend their girl from the other islanders throwing condiments, while she attempted to score a goal. In the second round, each couple had to snog for as long as they could before the bell rang.
On Day 39, the Islanders took part in "Mad Movies" in a Boys vs. Girls pub quiz challenge where they had to answer sex related questions. The team who answered correctly were able to select a movie from the list which featured a clip of another Islander. The girls answered the most questions correctly and were therefore crowned the winners.[70]
Exits
On Day 38, after receiving the fewest public votes, Amy and Hugo, Clarisse and Tyler, and Mary and Sam were at risk of being dumped. It was then up to the remaining girls to choose a boy to save, while the remaining boys saved a girl. Mary and Tyler were saved from their fellow islanders, therefore Amy, Clarisse, Hugo and Sam were all dumped from the island.
Week 7
Entrances
On Day 42, Aaron S and Priya entered the villa.
On Day 44, Brett entered the villa.
Coupling
On Day 45, the islanders recoupled. This time it was the girls choosing which boy they'd like to be coupled up with. Chloe and Toby, Faye and Teddy, Jake and Liberty, Liam and Millie all remained together, while Kaz reunited with Tyler, Mary picked Aaron S, and Priya chose Brett. As Matthew was left single, he was dumped from the island.
Challenges
On Day 44, the boys took part in "Sex Gods". while dressed as Greek Gods, they first had to strip before carrying a large globe above their head across a pool of "lava". Finally they had to rescue the girl of their choice by doing a number of pull ups and kissing her after each rep.
On Day 46, the boys and girls went head-to-head to raise their opposing team's heart rate. At the end of the game they found out who raised their heart rate the most.
On Day 47, the islanders were asked to predict where the public ranked them in a series of categories.
Dates
On Day 42, new islanders Aaron S and Priya each picked two people to take on dates. Aaron S chose Mary and Chloe, while Priya picked Teddy and Matthew.
On Day 44, new islander Brett was asked to take one of the girls on a date. He chose Priya.
Exits
On Day 42, after receiving the fewest public votes, Abigail, Kaz and Mary, and Dale, Jake and Tyler were in danger of being dumped. The remaining Islanders had to choose one boy and one girl to dump from the island. The boys chose Abigail, while the girls chose Dale.
On Day 45, Matthew was dumped after failing to couple up.
Week 8
Challenges
On Day 52, the islanders were challenged with looking after a baby doll. The challenge was won by Aaron S and Mary.
Dates
On Day 53, Faye and Teddy, and Kaz and Tyler, and Liam and Millie went on their final dates.
On Day 54, Jake and Liberty, and Chloe and Toby went on their final dates.
Exits
On Day 50, following the islanders voted for the two least compatible couples the previous day, Faye and Teddy, Liberty and Jake, Mary and Aaron S, and Priya and Brett, who all received votes went head-to-head with each other in a public vote to save. It was then revealed that having received the fewest public votes, Priya and Brett had been dumped.
On Day 52, after receiving the fewest public votes, Aaron S and Mary were dumped from the island.
On Day 54, Jake and Liberty decided to voluntarily leave the villa following their break-up.[71]
Ratings
Official ratings are taken from BARB which include ITV2 +1 and any playback within 7 days of the original broadcast.[72] Because the Saturday episodes are "Unseen Bits" episodes rather than nightly highlights, these are not included in the overall averages. Week 3’s Sunday episode which aired on 11 July went up against 30 million viewers watching the UEFA Euro 2020 Final.[73]
