The name for ITV's middle-aged Love Island spin off as been announced: a drum roll, please, for the Romance Retreat.
Catchy, hey?
The news comes after legendary reality TV host Davina McCall publicly called for ITV to expand their age range on Love Island in order to really create some bingeable drama.
‘I could fill a villa in Love Island with middle-aged people with the best back stories you have ever heard in your life,' she said on a recent episode of Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett. '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.'
As would we Davina, and as we will apparently! According to an ITV casting call for a brand-new dating show, titled The Romance Retreat, single parents will be shipped off to a luxury retreat to find love after being nominated by their families. While it’s unclear whether the show will have the same format as Love Island in terms of voting for favourite couples and winning a cash prize, the description sure sounds exciting.
‘ITV1 are looking for vibrant single parents from across the UK who are in search of love, for a brand-new dating show!’ the casting call reads. ‘This 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.’
There is no air date confirmed, but applications for the show close on Friday 31st March 2023, so perhaps we’ll see the show compete with our beloved summer Love Island. Never fear, we’ll be updating you with all the goss as soon as it drops because if this really is a Love Island spin-off for mid lifers, we’ll absolutely be tuning in! Finger's crossed Davina McCall ends up hosting too...
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