Love Island - Series 1 (2005)

Series 1 (2005)

The first series was broadcast during the summer of 2005.

The show attracted controversy from the moment it was announced by ITV. It was marketed as a rival for Channel 4's popular reality show, Big Brother, which returned for a sixth series soon after the show's launch. Many commentators felt that the format of the show provided low quality television as an excuse to attract high ratings.

Following the launch of the show, the celebrities were criticised by viewers for being boring, and the celebrity status of some of the participants was questioned. There was some suspicion that the contestants were simply using the programme as a free holiday, and the tabloids claimed that producers held crisis meetings to figure out how to keep things interesting.

Soon afterwards, tabloid reports claimed that the show's presenters, Kelly Brook and Patrick Kielty, were engaged in a bitter feud. The problems between the pair allegedly started after Kielty told viewers on the live show that Brook had previously been involved in a relationship with one of the contestants, Paul Danan. However, even the promise of fireworks between the two hosts was not enough to keep viewers interested, and one episode of the show only attracted less than 2 million viewers. Producers later hired model Nikki Ziering to spice up the show.

The show was also resented by fans of long-running ITV soap Coronation Street. ITV decided to move its flagship programme from 19:30 to 20:30 on Monday nights, to provide a successful lead-in for Love Island, in the hope of increasing ratings. Writers John Fay and Daran Little complained to the press about the treatment of the show. ITV argued that it took the decision to move the soap very seriously and only did so when absolutely necessary. A meeting was requested with ITV programming director Nigel Pickard to discuss the issue.

On 10 June 2005, although ratings were beginning to pick up, with the show close to overtaking Big Brother in popularity, a strong storm over the islands of Fiji disrupted the programme. A live eviction show had to be cancelled as six-foot waves made it impossible for crewmembers to cross over to where the celebrities were staying. Instead, ITV was forced to repeat the episode from the previous night with unseen footage.

Shekoni was the first celebrity to be voted off the show by the public. "For the short period I was there I got on with everybody and didn't have any negative experiences. But when I watch it now I just think, oh God, I had a lucky escape that I didn't end up crying in front of the cameras, or getting rejected by any of the guys, or involved in any of the arguments. I know my family are just pleased that I got out and didn't do anything to ruin my integrity and morals and didn't do anything embarrassing in there. I knew almost instantly that I didn't fancy any of them, and I think that's why I got voted out. That's fair enough because it is supposed to be the love island and I obviously hadn't found love. I'm still looking, though, and I've been out searching ever since."