Drumroll please...Winter Love Island is almost open for business. Maya Jama just touched down in South Africa, the drip-feed of contestants has started and - surprise, surprise - they're pretty much all wearing silly-string-style bikinis that have come to characterise the show's barely-there approach to swimwear. My only question is: aren't we tired of the teeny-weeny two-piece?
Of course, everyone's entitled to pick whatever they want to wear in the promo shots. But rather like The Apprentice - which kicked off last week and featured a line-up of contestants who did yet another rendition of '1980s Boardroom Barbie' - all of the contestants seem to be dressed in some variation of an itsy-bitsy bikini. And although some of them have trending criss-cross ties and high-cut bottoms, the fact that they look largely the same as every other season before them does seem a bit bewildering considering that the show first aired in 2015.
So far, all but one contestant is wearing a bikini. Tanya Manhenga chose to wear a strapless one-piece. And even though it reveals slices of skin with strategic cut-outs, it still stands out as being something a little bit different compared to the sea of block-coloured bikinis.
It seems particularly odd this season considering the show's sponsor, eBay, which is returning after its game-changing debut as part of last year's Love Island. Unlike past fast fashion partners, eBay stands for individuality, which makes it even more strange that the promo photos look so similar to seasons gone by. The swimwear featured on the show isn't sourced from eBay - or, at least, it wasn't last season - but shouldn't these promo photos still show a bit more personality like the clothes worn on the show (styled by the second-hand aficionado that is Amy Bannerman)?
The swimwear actually in the villa will most likely be more personalised. Tasha Ghouri, one of last year's finalists, debuted the three-piece bikini last year - while wearing your bikini top upside down also sent the internet into a meltdown. Why the promo shots can't be a bit more fun - and a bit less staged - is something to think about before it kicks off on 16 January.